


Calamity's Reign

by WavesBlade



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe, Betrayal, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Genocide, Infection, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss, Mind Manipulation, Murder, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Resurrection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2018-10-20 22:19:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 95,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10671903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WavesBlade/pseuds/WavesBlade
Summary: AU: What if Jenova isn't only just some kind of sentient alien-virus? What if it was but one of many, the first of it's race that Gaia encountered? During one of Sephiroth's revivals post Deepground, a meteor crashes upon the ruins of Midgar, destroying it utterly. Out of the rubble climbs another of Jenova's kind... a new Calamity From the Sky. A threat dangerous enough to force Sephiroth and Cloud to fight alongside one another. It's infection of the world begins and strikes closer to home than ever before, twisting a friend into a monster. The Planet is in peril, and is forced to take action. But, even as they fight, a disturbing question is asked...The Question: Even if we beat it, are there more? Are they coming as well?The Answer: They are coming, they are all coming...





	1. A New Calamity

Deep in space, a meteor rushed through the stars, battering all of its lesser brothers out of its way. Entering into the milky way galaxy, it's trajectory suddenly jerks, as if being aimed deliberately, at a certain blue world...

* * *

"It's good to see you, Cloud," came a soft taunting purr followed by the sound of metal ripping through air.  
  
Cloud Strife acted on instinct, pulling his fusion sword First Tsurugi off his back, whirling, and swinging his blade up to strike against a dreadfully familiar long blade, Masamune. He followed the length of the blade with eyes, sighting its wielder and locking his own eyes on the green cat lit slits gazing upon him. The ruins of Midgar loomed off in the distance, watching as once again these two warriors met blades under its shadow.  
  
Cloud wrenched up with his blade and lashed out with a foot, catching Sephiroth in his stomach and booted him back. "Hmph."  
  
Sephiroth recovered and smirked at him. "You don't seem surprised to see me."  
  
Cloud flexed his grip on his blade's handle. "You've come back to many times now for me to be surprised. What is it, the sixth time now? Seventh?"  
  
Sephiroth seemed amused. "Does it honestly matter? So long as I haunt your dreams and your heart, I will keep coming back, I will never fade. It's as I told you Cloud, I will never be a memory."  
  
Cloud charged, swinging his blade overhead as he did. "Then I'll just keep beating you back into the depths of my memories and the lifestream every-time."  
  
Sephiroth blocked his attack, a delighted grin on his face. "I'm pleased then, Cloud, to know that the Master and it's puppet will continue their dance for ages to come."  
  
Cloud pushed forward, pulling one of his blades off the main one and yanking back with his second hand to thrust forward. Sephiroth side-stepped the attempt to skewer him and spun, smashing the pommel of his blade into the back of Cloud's head, sending him staggering.  
  
"Tut tut Cloud. You little sword tricks stopped being surprising a long time ago," mocked Sephiroth, "If you want to kill me this time, your going to need to be better, or I may be the one to kill you."  
  
Cloud turned to face him, reuniting his sword into one piece. "Really, kill me? Your always to busy mocking and toying with me to actually go through with it."  
  
Cloud began to glow blue with energy. "You could have ran me through from behind, I had no clue you were coming. Instead you let me know, just so you could mock and fight me."  
  
A soft smile appeared on Sephiroth's face. "Ah, the puppet knows its master well. What delight would I find in so cowardly a victory over you? After all, I still haven't given you your gift."  
  
Cloud paused briefly. "Gift?"  
  
Sephiroth's eyes glistened. "Did you forget Cloud? I offered you the gift of despair. And today, even if I fall again, I shall start to give it to you at long last. Can you feel them coming Cloud? I let your friends know I was coming before I came after you."  
  
A bead of sweat rolled down Cloud's forehead. "Why?"  
  
"You told me once that there wasn't a thing you didn't cherish. So, I shall take everything from you. Rebirth by rebirth I will do so. First your friends, then your acquaintances, then even the comfort of strangers. Nature will fall, where you may once have found peace in its embrace, you will instead find the decay of rotting wood and plants. The comfort of battle and slaughter against monster will leave you next as I take that pleasure from you. Then, all traces of the world you once knew will vanish, buildings will fall, memorials will vanish, and graveyards will disappear. The light of the sky and stars will blacken and fade and you will be all alone. Only then, when you rest on your knees before me in utter darkness, asking for deliverance, shall I give it to you," spoke Sephiroth with deathly calm and sincerity.  
  
Cloud stared at him wordlessly, unable to stop himself from shivering. He understood fully. Sephiroth had no intention of killing him, not yet... what he had in mind was a fate worse than death...  
  
"Cloud MOVE!" came a female voice.  
  
Cloud instinctively dove out of the way as a barrage of bullets fired through where he had just been, raining down on Sephiroth. Sephiroth smirked and swept his blade, unleashing a wave of energy that sent the bullets flying. Cloud turned his head, sighting Tifa and Barret arriving to join the fight.  
  
"Da hell is this motha fucker back AGAIN?" swore Barret.  
  
"GET OUT OF HERE!" roared Cloud.  
  
Tifa bristled. "Were not letting you fight alone again Cloud!"  
  
"This isn't the same as before!" Cloud cried out, "It's a trap! Not for me, but for all of you!"  
  
Tifa paused. "What?"  
  
Sephiroth chuckled softly and turned to Tifa. "Tell me, do you still feel it?"  
  
Tifa glared at him and barred her fists. "Feel what?"  
  
Sephiroth seemed disappointed. "Oh? So you've forgotten? The kiss of my blade across your chest? Shall I remind you?"  
  
Sephiroth rushed at her. Cloud swore and rushed forward, diving to meet him half way and elbowed him aside as the swordsman swung, throwing his blade barely off-course. Tifa used the off-balance of the blow to smash the back of her hand into the flat of Masamune, smacking it away. Sephiroth chuckled and threw himself out of the way as Barret unleashed another round of bullets from his gun arm.  
  
Sephiroth held up his hand, and his one-black-wing exploded out of his back. He flew into the air, and then dive bombed towards Barret.  
  
Cloud's eyes went wide, there was to much distance, but he tried anyway, rushing forward. "NO!"  
  
Barret swore and tried to dive aside as Sephiroth descended and swung...  
  
_SLICE_  
  
Barret screamed in pain as Masamune took his gun arm off at the elbow, unleashing a spray of blood and sparks. Cloud was there a moment later, letting in Sephiroth with one furious blow after another.  
  
"Tifa! Take him and GO!" ordered Cloud.  
  
Tifa rushed forward and knelt by Barret. "Barret..."  
  
"Teef... gota cauterize it... cure wont be enough," said Barret weakly.  
  
Tifa grimaced and fished through her pocket for a fire materia, holding a hand up next to the stump of an arm. Barret could do nothing but roar in pain as Tifa worked to burn the wound closed.  
  
Cloud was furious. But more than that, he was terrified. Sephiroth had meant every word he said, he was going to murder each of his friends, one by one. He would NOT let that happen! He rushed at him, separating his blade into two and duel-wielding. Sephiroth leapt over a twin strike and flew towards Barret and Tifa...  
  
_BANG!_  
  
Sephiroth turned mid-flight, swinging Masamune up to bat away at a heavy slug that came at him. The force of the impact caused the slug to explode, sending Sephiroth flying back. Cloud turned his head to see Vincent Valentine reloading his weapon, Death Penalty, and rushing forward to join the fight.  
  
Sephiroth flew into the air, but did not come back down to attack. "Ah Valentine. I was hoping you'd arrive sooner rather than later."  
  
Cloud frowned. This was the first time Sephiroth had ever really acknowledged the former Turk, yet, more than his promise to Cloud, Sephiroth actually seemed slightly angry at Vincent.  
  
Sephiroth wagged a finger at Vincent. "I was watching your fight with Deepground Valentine. Tut tut, you were holding back on me during Meteorfall. Had you unleashed Chaos then alongside Cloud, I would have stood not a ghost of a chance."  
  
Sephiroth grinned wickedly. "Such a shame Chaos has returned to the planet, isn't it? He could have been useful here."  
  
Vincent aimed Death Penalty up at Sephiroth, but did not fire, merely waiting.  
  
"Tell me Valentine, why did you not use Chaos against me before? Why go easy on me with so much at stake?" asked Sephiroth, "Hmm... perhaps... oh what was her name... was it because of... Lucrecia?"  
  
Vincent froze.  
  
"Don't listen to him Vincent!" yelled Cloud.  
  
"Ah yes, it must have been because of that woman, my, _human_ , mother," said Sephiroth with distaste, "You did not want to kill her son, did you?"  
  
"No, I didn't," said Vincent quietly.  
  
His honesty caused a silence to descend over the battlefield, even giving pause to Sephiroth, aside from the flap of his wing.  
  
"I failed her many times in her life, as much as I failed you," said Vincent, "I pity you. You should have been given the chance to live a normal life, not have been forcibly drafted into Shinra, experimented upon by Hojo, and given no choice but to live as the general of SOLDIER. You became what you are, because of my failure."  
  
Sephiroth's grin had long since faded, for the first time since Cloud had met him, his calm deadly madness had faded, he looked utterly furious. "Pity, ME?"  
  
Sephiroth was a blur across the battlefield, his sword embedded through Vincent's chest faster than Cloud could blink. "The only one who deserves pity here, you worthless Turk, is you. How many years did you wither away in that coffin when you could have done something? Done _ANYTHING_?!"  
  
"Vincent!" Cloud, Tifa, and Barret cried out.  
  
Vincent placed his metal claw on Masamune. "I'm sorry Sephiroth."  
  
Sephiroth stared at him, dumbstruck for a moment, before his eyes narrowed dangerously. "I'll humor your pity no longer. Sink into despair."  
  
Sephiroth yanked his sword out and then swung, his blade ripping through Vincent's body and cutting him in half before mocking the dying man as he fell to the ground, "Keep my mother company in the lifestream, wont you?"  
  
"Not... dead...," whispered Vincent.  
  
Sephiroth paused briefly. "What?"  
  
"She's... not... dead... go to... her...," whispered Vincent.  
  
Sephiroth stared at him for a moment before smirking. "Oh? She's alive then? Perhaps I will find and pay mother dearest a visit at some point, if only to give her the love of my sword and send her to you in the afterlife. She gave me nothing and means nothing to me, Jenova is more my mother than her."  
  
Sephiroth stabbed the blade through Vincent's heart and killed him before wrenching the sword out and turning to Cloud. "The first has fallen. I wonder puppet, who goes next?"  
  
Cloud shook with rage. "You... how dare you...!"  
  
"VINCENT!" came a scream.  
  
There was a whine through the air as a shuriken ripped towards Sephiroth. The man turned and batted it back the way it came. Yuffie Kisaragi leapt from a nearby tree, caught the weapon, and aimed a glowing hand at Sephiroth, unleashing a wave of fire. Sephiroth flew through the fire and grabbed Yuffie by the color of her shirt before flying down and dumping her ontop of Vincent's corpse.  
  
"Give the man a parting kiss wont you?" mocked Sephiroth.  
  
Sephiroth flew up into the air and hovered, looking down upon the battlefield. "Hmm. Who next shall I give the gift of despair?"  
  
"NO MORE!" roared Cloud, the whine and glow of a limit break exploding from him.  
  
He threw First Tsurugi into the sky, separating it into its individual pieces. He launched himself into the air and grabbed the first one before flying at Sephiroth. The One Winged Angel showed no fear against the attack that had once killed him. Instead, he merely turned and blocked the attack, easily. Cloud flew to his other blades and returned again and again. Sephiroth spun, a dance of steel, and blocked each attack. Upon the last exchange, he drove Masamune through Cloud's shoulder, knocking him out of his limit break.  
  
"Tut tut puppet, I told you before your little sword tricks wont save you anymore," mocked Sephiroth.  
  
Sephiroth swung his sword and threw Cloud to the ground. "That's why a puppet needs its master to play it's strings. Otherwise is it caught forever in old movements."  
  
Cloud hit the ground and flopped head over heals twice before groaning painfully.  
  
Sephiroth turned his attention and gazed down upon Tifa. "Now I believe I wished to remind you of something..."  
  
Sephiroth descended, swinging his blade in an arc as he touched down. His sword slashed down across Tifa's chest and stomach. She screamed and collapsed backwards, blood gushing out of the wound.  
  
"Do you remember now, the kiss of my blade?" asked Sephiroth.  
  
"TIFA!" cried out Cloud, rising to his feet and rushing forward as Yuffie did the same.  
  
Sephiroth put his sword inches from Tifa's face. "Another step and she dies."  
  
Yuffie and Cloud froze.  
  
Barret swore, "Ya fuckin coward!"  
  
Sephiroth smirked and held up a finger. "They're all almost here."  
  
There was a rumble through the air, and off in the distance an airship, the Highwind appeared. It closed the distance, and a single rope came off its side. Cid Highwind slid down on the rope, while Nanaki leapt off its side. Off, high in the air, storm clouds began to gather as the two began to close the distance and stood next to Cloud.  
  
Cid took one look at Tifa and then at Vincent's corpse. "Shit."  
  
Sephiroth chuckled and looked around. "Is the Cat Doll not joining us? A shame. After all..."  
  
He looked up into the sky, at the gathering storm. " _ALL_ of the other's are here, save for Valentine of course."  
  
A single drop of rain fell and hit Sephiroth's arm. Sephiroth grimaced as the water hissed and burnt into him, black vapor rising out on contact.  
  
Cloud looked up into the sky, feeling a familiar presence enter the area. "Aerith..."  
  
"If there is one regret I have of my life post being the top of SOLDIER, it's killing that little Ancient," hissed Sephiroth, "She's much more of a nuisance within the lifestream than as a weak little flower girl. Be warned, little ancient, another drop touches me, and she dies."  
  
The storm clouds rumbled, but did not release another drop. Cloud ground his teeth, Sephiroth had them all in a choke hold. His eyes flickered to Tifa as she let out a painful moan, her body twitching. She wouldn't last long in that state. Damn it...  
  
Sephiroth turned his head towards Cloud. "So then Puppet..."  
  
"Enough!" roared Cloud, "I am NOT a damn Puppet! Stop screwing with our lives!"  
  
Sephiroth's lips curled into a grin. "So then, you claim to be free of strings? Let us test that theory then, Cloud."  
  
Nakaki gave a warning. "If you kill her, you will not survive. You won't win against the rest of us with Aerith's help."  
  
"He knows," said Cloud quietly, "He doesn't care."  
  
Sephiroth spoke calmly, "Let us see if you have the will to truly stand alone, Cloud. One more life shall end this day, and it will not be yours. Choose then, who dies. Shall it be Miss Lockheart? Or will you sacrifice another of your friends in her place?"  
  
Cloud stared at him in shock.  
  
"Choose quickly Cloud, strike down one of your friends, or I will kill her," warned Sephiroth.  
  
"You... sick bastard...," hissed Cloud.

* * *

Aerith Gainsborough watched the scene from the lifestream, biting her spectral lips nervously. "Cloud..."  
  
"Damn, Sephiroth's really got Spikey in a bind," came a voice from her side.  
  
Aerith turned to see the spectral form of Zack Fair appear next to her, he gave her a shrug and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Minerva thought you could use some company right now."  
  
Aerith gave him an appreciative look. "It's bad... Vincent's gone and Tifa's bleeding out. I don't know what to do."  
  
"To be honest, I'm surprised it took him this long to get one of them," said Zack with a grimace.  
  
"ZACK!" exclaimed Aerith furiously.  
  
Zack shook his head. "I'm just being brutally honest here. It's Sephiroth were talking about after all. They've fought him how many times and this is the first time he's killed one of Spikey's friend?"  
  
Aerith bowed her head. "I... I know... I knew this could happen, but I was just hoping that they could all make it out of this alive, and live their lives happy and free."  
  
Zack sighed. "I know Aerith, I know. If life was that nice, you and me would still be alive."  
  
He gave her a mischievous smile. "And with tons of little Aerith and Zack babies running around!"  
  
Aerith gave him a brief giggle. "Oh Zack stop..."  
  
There was a tremor in the lifestream, and before them, a golden being began to form. Within moment's Minerva in her full glory appeared before them. However, she was not alone. At her side, in full of body, well, a spectral body, was Vincent Valentine.  
  
Aerith looked at him sadly. "Oh Vincent... I'm so sorry."  
  
Vincent shook his head. "Don't be."  
  
"Calamity's Child will most likely kill one more before this day is done," warned Minerva, "Already I can feel Gaia's Champion begin to crack, when the next dies he will splinter. We must take action when the Calamity's Child is returned to the lifestream, no matter what it takes, he must not be allowed to return once more to life. Gaia's Champion cannot keep facing him again and again. He will break. We must..."  
  
Minerva paused, a startled look crossing her usually calm and serine face, she glanced upward, as if looking into the sky. "What is...?"  
  
They turned their heads, all of them did, and Aerith's eyes went wide. "Is that a...?"

* * *

Sephiroth smiled cruelly at Cloud. "So then, will you not decide?"  
  
"I'm not playing your sick game's Sephiroth!" yelled Cloud.  
  
"A puppet to the end it seems," said Sephiroth, gripping his blade heavily.  
  
Before he could drive the the blade through Tifa's skull, the clouds above them all parted and left, giving him pause.  
  
Sephiroth looked up, raising an eyebrow. "It would seem even the little ancient abandons you puppet, as will all before the end."  
  
Suddenly, the ground began to tremble. Off in the distance, green tendrils of the lifestream began to snake out of the ground. But, they did not move towards the battlefield. Instead, they began to move to Midgar, condensing and forming a shield of green energy.  
  
Sephiroth frowned. "What is the Ancient up to?"  
  
The entire planet began to tremble, and an ear splitting cry filled the air. They all stared up into the sky, sighting a massive meteor begin to descend from the sky.  
  
Cloud's eyes went wide. "NO! How?! The Black Materia was lost to the lifestream! How could he have gotten it?"  
  
Sephiroth scoffed and pulled his sword away from Tifa. "Foolish Puppet, does that look like the same Meteor? It's a natural one, not my doing."  
  
Sephiroth held his sword out defensively, a barrier of magic surrounding him. "I suggest, Puppet, if you wish to continue our battle after, that you brace yourself. The lifestream around Midgar is to weak too repel or fully stop that."  
  
"Behind me!" cried out Cloud.  
  
Immediately, the members of Avalance rushed to Cloud. Each of them began to funnel magic into a barrier around them. They watched, terrified, as the meteor barreled down from the skies and slammed into the lifestream barrier, slowing a bit, but still breaking through it and slamming into Midgar. There was a flash of light and a massive explosion. Fire ripped past them, slamming into their barriers and turning the landscape into a living hell.  
  
"Oh gods, I hope Edge is okay," said Yuffie with terror.  
  
"Marlene!" cried out Barret.  
  
"Keep your focus!" warned Cloud, "It's not over yet!"  
  
The ground buckled and churned as the ground heaved around them. A wave of dust and debris followed the wave of fire. They held on, struggling to maintain the barrier, until it finally settled. When the dust cleared, a crater stood where Midgar used to be...  
  
Cloud lowered the barrier and fell to a knee. "Ugh..."  
  
"I thought Midgar was an eyesore, but that's way overkill," said Yuffie, jittery.  
  
"Hmph, even the heavens tremble and lose pieces of themselves to our battle puppet," mocked Sephiroth.  
  
Cloud turned angrily towards him and then froze, noticing that Tifa was still alive behind Sephiroth. "She's... you..."  
  
Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "What? Did you think I'd let a meteor deprive me of personally giving you despair? She dies at my blade or not at all."  
  
Cloud glared at him. "I'm going with not at all."  
  
Sephiroth smirked. "Do you think you can close the distance before I..."  
  
Sephiroth froze and whirled, turning towards the crater, "What is...?"  
  
Cloud froze and shivered, feeling a tingling sensation crawl over him. "J-Jenova? No... its... what is it...?"  
  
Yuffie glanced at him. "What's going on?"  
  
Cloud clutched his head. "Somethings... something's not right...something... something came down with the meteor..."  
  
Sephiroth shook with rage. "I will suffer NO rival!"  
  
Sephiroth flew into the air and rushed towards the crater, abandoning the fight.  
  
Cloud shook his head, rose to his feet, and charged after him. "Barret! Heal Tifa as best as you can! The rest of you with me! We have to go, NOW!"  
  
Cloud followed Sephiroth with a sense of dread. There was a presence screaming in the back of his mind, and it _WASN'T_ Jenova or Sephiroth. The group followed in Sephiroth's wake until the reached the edge of the deep crater. They looked inwards, sighting peices of the meteor everywhere. Green liquid, the blood of the planet, oozed along the ground in streams. It puddled at the bottom, a gory horrific wound to the planet.  
  
However, it wasn't the wound itself that gave pause to Cloud and his friends, to even Sephiroth who floated high in the air, a mixture of rage and dread on his face.  
  
At the bottom of the crater, feeding off the lifeblood of the planet, was a being that look frighteningly familiar, but still different, from the Jenova they had fought years ago on their way to fight Sephiroth at the end of Meteorfall. It had a human-like toso with a black, gaping hole in its center, but without humanoid legs and arms. Its head was a silver looking mask with black-red slits for eyes and a mouth, and sprouting out above it instead of hair was a blood red crystal. Two tentacles with scythe like endings stretched out of its body. Upon its back was a huge tan egg-sack like growth, pulsating with black veins. Underneath it were eight thin legs like a spider. Connecting to its back and the egg-sack were red petal like growths that almost seemed to be a flower. Unlike Jenova, they kept extending, turning into black-red leathery looking wings, seven in total.  
  
"Holy... what the FUCK is that?!" yelled Cid.  
  
The creature paused its feeding on the lifestream to turn its head and body, looking to study them. It's gaze flickered from one to the other, before raising its head to look up at Sephiroth. It's body tensed, and it began to hiss, its wings fluttering and flapping threateningly.  
  
"It's... it's another Jenova," whispered Cloud with disbelief and pure terror...


	2. Infection

Cloud Strife flexed his grip on his fusion sword nervously, eying the abomination at the bottom of the crater. A new Jenova, great, as if Jenova and Sephiroth themselves weren't enough. Now this? This... was bad. What if Sephiroth allied with this thing? They could barely handle the One Winged Angel himself, if both of them...

"Leave now," ordered Sephiroth at the creature, "This planet is MINE."

Cloud raised an eyebrow at that, slightly relived. It was fitting in a way he guessed, Sephiroth didn't share.

The creature hissed at Sephiroth, its wings flickering with agitation, its tentacle-scythe claws scrapping against eachother threateningly. _"The claim to this world faded once your sire released its death scream to call to the stars. The feast now belongs to the one strong enough to claim it, spawn child. You are the one will leave."_

Cloud gave a start. "I... can understand it?"

"You still have Jenova cells inside of you Cloud, I assume that's the reason," offered Nanaki.

Cloud nodded. "Probably."

"What's it saying?" asked Yuffie nervously.

"I think it just challenged Sephiroth for the right to consume and destroy the planet," muttered Cloud.

"Uh... so... they're going to fight eachother then? Okay, well, I'm not complaining," said Yuffie, "We could really use something going our way right now, I'll take what I can get."

Cloud frowned. "It said it was attracted by Jenova's death scream... but, we never really killed Jenova. Her cells are still active."

"Perhaps not, but, we did kill her main body when we went for Sephiroth during Meteorfall," said Nakanki.

"Well shit, ain't that lovely, kill one and it calls to another? Fan-fucking-tastic, fuck our lives," spat Cid.

No further conversation happened as Sephiroth came to a decision, glaring down at the creature. "So be it."

Sephiroth flew down as the creature flew up. They swung at eachother, Masamune clashing against scythe-claw, sparks and blue energy erupting on contact. Sephiroth flew backwards as the creature pushed forward, slashing its scythe-claws at him again and again. The creature threw its claws forward in a sweeping motion from the left and the right. Sephiroth allowed himself to plummet down to dodge before flying back up and swinging his blade, severing through the fleshy part of the claws.

The creature hissed before aiming a tentacle that was oozing black-blood at Sephiroth. Green mist burst forward and ripped the sky open in a green explosion that sent Sephiroth flying and grunting in pain. Cloud recognized the magic as Ultima. This thing was physically strong enough to keep up with Sephiroth, and magically powerful too. It... was no joke.

In an explosion of black goop, the creature's claws regenerated. Not only that, but its formerly severed claws began to twist and morph, turning into a monstrous mass with wings and a scythe like beak. The two claw-monsters flew up to join the main creature, charging at Sephiroth from three angles. Sephiroth narrowed his eyes and aimed a hand, unleashing a heavy explosion of fire at one of the claw-monsters, disintegrating it. He brought Masamune up in time to block the second claw-monster and flew upward after to doge the main creature.

"I am amused," called down Sephiroth mockingly, "I had thought mother was alone, it would seem I was wrong. So tell me, are all of my mother's kin so weak?"

" _Little spawn child, you have no understanding of what it is to be strong, the might of magic and of blade means little to the the call of Reunion,"_ hissed the creature.

Cloud fell to his knees, screaming and clutching his head as his body began to spasm. He could feel his Jenova cells inside of him begin to churn and attack his body. Up above, Sephiroth _also_ gave a startled shout of pain, clutching a hand to his stomach and hissing in pain. The creature flew at Sephiroth and slashed twice. Battling his own body, the One Winged Angel couldn't dodge. One carved a blow clean into his chest, the other nearly took his arm off at the shoulder. Sephiroth gave a roar of pain and plummeted downward, barely managing not to crash land and instead landed on one knee and a foot.

" _Little spawn child, abandoned and left alone by your sire, will you not heed my call? Become my child and you may share in the feast,"_ offered the creature, mocking amusement in its voice.

Sephiroth's only response was to clutch his head and scream in pain and rage.

The creature continued, " _If you refuse then perhaps..._ ," it turned towards Cloud, " _The other child will answer instead? Will you not reunite with me?_ "

Cloud shook with effort, rising to a knee, lowering his hand, and glaring hatefully at the monster. "I've had... ENOUGH... of you damn monsters screwing with my head!"

The creature seemed amused. " _Such a defiant child. Speak my name and submit and you may yet feast on this planet."_

Cloud's cells vibrated, he could feel them trying to call out to the creature, he could feel them trying to change and adapt to it. He heard a name in his mind, in a language he did not understand, but, he could feel its meaning and spoke a loose translation of it...

"Morbunova..." Cloud whispered.

The creature purred at it's name. " _Submit..._ "

Cloud gave a strangled cry and forced himself to his feet, a blue aura coating his body, "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

A shockwave rippled out from Cloud, sending his allies staggering and causing Morbunova to release a ear splitting scream of rage. Cloud felt the creature's influence over his cells fade away. Cloud shook his head to clear away the last tinges of pain and glared full force at the monster, flexing his grip on his fusion swords. Reunion, the creature had just activated Reunion, not its own, but Jenova's. It had tried to directly subvert and control Jenova's cells. Cloud hadn't felt anything like it since Sephiroth had controlled him back when he thought he was Zack, and this was worse, far worse. Despite how much mental fortitude he had gained since then, the creature had come close to breaking through his defenses.

Not only that...

Though his injuries had started to heal, Sephiroth was still on his knees, clutching his head and screaming. Hmph. Seems he didn't much enjoy someone messing with his head. Cloud smirked at that, about time he got a taste of his own medicine.

_brrr. brrr._

Cloud frowned, feeling a vibration from his PHS. He scowled, eyeing the creatures as it glared hatefully down at him before reaching down into his pocket for his phone. He flicked it open, concerned it might be Barret or Tifa, before he froze in shock, sighting who it said the text was from.

Aerith...

_"Cloud, help Sephiroth. If he is controlled, its over. You can't beat both of them at the same time."_

Cloud felt furious, felt betrayed, even as his mind understood and accepted what Aerith had sent him as the cold hard truth. If Sephiroth was controlled, the two of them together could overwhelm Cloud's mental defenses and control him, if not just outright kill him. Though, that begged the question of how Sephiroth could possibly be losing a mental struggle for control over his own body. Then again, Sephiroth was composed of far more Jenova cells, or rather, S-Cells, than Cloud was. He most likely heard Reuinion's call louder than Cloud did. It was a strange thought, to realize that Sephiroth of all people was vulnerable to it.

"Sephiroth!" Cloud called out.

Sephiroth growled. his eyes rising to meet Cloud's. Cloud flinched in shock. Sephiroth's normally green cat-like eyes had turned a shade of blood red. He... his cells were actually being converted. Cloud knew he had to act quickly, and there was one way he thought of to get through to his nemesis.

"Some puppet master you turned out to be! The 'Puppet' resists far better than you do!" mocked Cloud.

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed and he let out an audible hiss of frustration; Cloud saw a flicker of green re-enter Sephiroth's eyes. "Come on! Is that the best you can do? You've come back how many times to kill me and..."

Morbunova interrupted, unleashing an Ultima spell directly at Cloud. He gave a startled cry, unprepared to take the heavy magic attack. He was sent flying, his cloths burned and charred, losing his grip on his sword. He hit the ground and groaned painfully. Damn...

Cloud looked up, sighting Morbunova directly above him, lashing down with a claw. Cloud rolled and scrambled, screaming in pain as the claw came down on his back instead of his neck.

"Cloud!" cried out Yuffie.

Morbunova's remaining Claw-Monster flew at the others, attempting to distract them from its master. Morbunova raised a claw and brought it down towards the back of Cloud's neck, only to have the appendix severed as Masamune cleaved through it. A fireball exploded into Morbunova's side, causing the monster to scream and spiral away.

Sephiroth, his eyes fully green again, snarled, "The puppet is _MINE_ to kill or control, not yours."

"Nice to know you care," muttered Cloud under his breath, scrambling away to grab his sword and cast cure on himself.

Sephiroth eyed him briefly. "We will conclude our _business_ after this _pest_ is dealt with."

There was no wait for a confirmation or acknowledgement. Sephiroth flew up into the air, swerving to come at Morbunova from the right. Cloud swore to himself and leapt into the air, coming at the creature from the left. It brought its claws up to block both attacks, but the sheer force behind them send the creature recoiling backwards. The both rushed forward and swung, severing its claws from its body, and then stabbing their blades into its torso. The creature hissed and unleashed an Ultima, blasting them back.

To Cloud's surprise, Morbunova dove below them, down into the crater. Cloud watched it go before it sank its head into a puddle of Mako and gave off a slurping sound...

"It's feeding off the Planet!" cried out Cloud.

Sephiroth and Cloud rushed down, swinging their blades in unison. Morbunova, to Cloud's surprise, evaded the blows. Even if it had been only a quick few gulps of Mako, the monster had grown a bit faster.

"We have to keep it away from the crater," said Cloud.

"Obviously," retorted Sephiroth, "Get it out and I will seal the wound in the planet."

Cloud crouched and leapt at the Calamity, separating his fusion sword into two and engaging it in a duel of claw and steel. He put every ounce of strength he had into the clash, pushing his body to its limit, blue and gold energy coating him. He back-flipped out of an attack and then front flipped, his sword shinning with energy. Morbunova crossed its claws and blocked as Cloud unleashed a Braver limit break, smashing into and through its guard, sending the creature screaming back. He rushed at it, giving no edge. He knew he was going to burn out quickly fighting at this intensity, but he had to get it out of the crater. If it was allowed to feed anymore, not even he and Sephiroth could defeat it together.

"I suggest, that your pitiful friends leave the crater, now," yelled Sephiroth.

Cloud briefly turned his head towards the others. "GO!"

He refocused on the Calamity, chaining one Braver after another, building up his power. With one attack, he separated his sword into its individual pieces, flying to each and rushing back at the Calamity, unleashing Omnislash. Unlike Sephiroth, Morbunova had no experience against the attack. Each blow rent into its flesh, spraying black blood everywhere. With one final cry, he called all of his blades back together and swung a deep blow into its chest, sending it flying out of the crater screaming in agony. Cloud landed on the ground outside the crater and fell to a knee, huffing and puffing raged breaths.

A whine filled the air, followed by a minor earthquake and a flash of light. Cloud turned his head, sighting a barrier covering the entrance to the crater, much like the one Sephiroth had made over the Northern Crater during Meteorfall. Sephiroth himself floated above the barrier, a smug look on his face.

He wagged a finger at Morbunova. "Tut tut, feeding on the prize before the battle is even over. Aren't you a greedy little glutton?"

The Calamity hissed, but said nothing. Instead, it ripped off its own claw-tentacle arms and balled them together. Cloud watched wearily as the Calamity's black blood began to rise into the air and condense on the tentacle-arms. It began to churn and morph. Cloud's eyes went wide with shock as a creature began to emerge from the mass. It... it was the same kind of creature Sephiroth/Jenova had unleashed during their hunt for him. The one from the cargo ship, the one in the whirlwind maze... and the one after Aerith had been murdered.

To his surprise, rather than aid it's creation, Morbunova turned and fled. Cloud swore, the creature was a diversion to cover the Calamity's escape. Before Cloud could follow, the creation dropped to the ground and gave a roar, unleashing a beam of energy that forced Cloud back.

Damn it... they had to kill this thing first and then chase after the Calamity...

* * *

Aerith watched the battle uneasily from the lifestream. "It's running, but, its still so strong... I thought it would be as strong as Jenova was when Cloud and the others fought her in the Northern Crater, but, its just as individually strong as either Sephiroth or Cloud. I don't understand, Jenova was never that powerful..."

"Untrue," interrupted Minerva, "Long ago, when the Calamity from the Skies first dropped from the heavens as it's dark harbinger, it was far stronger than any of the three fighting now."

Aerith's eyes went wide. "S-stronger?!"

Minerva nodded. "It all but wiped out your race, beloved child. Even with the help of the planet herself, all the survivors could do was seal it away. The Calamity lost much of its power during its long sleep, and during the time Shinra leeched its cells away. What Gaia's Champion fought in the Northern Crater was but a shadow of the Calamity's former self."

Aerith frowned. "I see... it truly had to be terrifying living back then when Jenova was at the peak of her power."

Minerva nodded solemnly before tilting her head to the skies. "This new Calamity is troubling, but manageable. However, its existence makes the planet uneasy and fearful for her future. We thought the original Calamity was a unique being, but now that we have found that another of its kind exists..."

"That there could be even more out there," finished Vincent, his voice heavy.

Minerva nodded. "Indeed, and if there are truly more of them, then they to will be drawn to the Calamity's death throes, and the throes of the new Calamity as well when it dies. We fear that Gaia's Champion will not be enough to safeguard the planet."

"What can we do?" asked Aerith, "What can be truly be done? I can cast Great Gospel from the lifestream, but, I don't think it will honestly be enough against that thing, or any others that might come. Not to mention if I cast it now, it will hurt Sephiroth as well, and we need him to help Cloud fight Morbunova."

Minerva frowned. "The planet is not pleased with an alliance, even temporarily, with Calamity's Child. Once this battle is over, he will seek to finish what he started. I have stirred my last champion and sent him to help and even the odds afterwords, but, beyond him, we will need more champions for the future."

Aerith grew curious. "Last champion?"

Minerva smiled faintly. "A man of great sorrow, and yet, great heart and pride. A failed child of Calamity, taken from her and made my own WEAPON. Though, new and not understanding of his power, he was beaten by your friend here."

Zack's eyes went wide. "Wait a second, you don't mean..."

Minerva nodded. "Indeed."

Zack frowned. "Are you sure trusting him is a good idea?"

Minerva raised an eyebrow. "Do you question my judgement?"

Zack held up a defensive hand. "N-no."

Minerva sighed briefly. "Even he will not be enough in the long run. The planet cannot leave its fate in the balance. It must take action. It needs... new WEAPONS."

Zack crossed his arms. "Umm... Spikey and the WEAPONS don't exactly get along ya know. Since they try and attack humanity and all."

Minerva nodded curtly. "We are aware. To that end, we have a... special plan in mind. It will take a great deal of energy from the lifestream to do, and will weaken the planet for centuries to come, but it very well may be the only thing that saves it from oblivion..."

* * *

Morbunova flew away, fleeing in a rage as his wounds began to bind themselves. Meddlesome spawn children. How could they be so strong as to resist _HIS_ will? He had come to this world, answering the death call, seeking vengeance for his slain kin. Never before had he heard the chilling melody of death for his own kind. The only way he knew of his kind being able to die was being killed by another of their kind, and that did not release the call. He did not particularly care that one of his own had fallen, but, the fact that it had happened demanded that he investigate and consume or destroy anything with the power to resist them.

He paused his flight, sensing fading life nearby. He swerved his head, noting two creatures of the same species below him. One of a darker brown complexion, one of a whiter one, but deathly pale and leaking blood. Alone, wounded, and defenseless. Yes. They would do nicely as the first of his own spawn children on this world. He flew down and slammed the back his claws into the brown one before it could react and knocked it out. He turned to gaze upon the nearly dead one, a viscous slash wound across its chest. He studied the wound briefly.

The silvered spawn child. The wound matched it's weapon. Curious. He had thought they all were allied. He stored the thought away and jabbed a claw into the creature's shoulder and lifted it up, growing delighted as it let out a soft whimper of pain. Morbunova focused his consciousness onto his large cell production chamber and readied it. Out of the gaping black hole in his chest, a tendril shot out and stabbed into his captive's stomach, pumping his cells into it.

As he did so, he began to sample its memories, no, her memories. Tifa Lockheart was the creature's name. It was a... human they called themselves? He focused his attention towards Tifa's memories of the two spawn children he had fought not long ago. The silver one, Sephiroth. The blonde one, Cloud Strife. The name Sephiroth triggered a number of memories in Tifa's mind and he followed them. He saw a village burn. He saw a mansion. He saw books and words and pieces of paper. The words Project S...

Morbunova grew shocked as it continued to go through Tifa's memories. He had been wrong, so wrong. Sephiroth was no mere spawn child. He was so much more. Seeded with the essence of his kind at birth, he was a... heir, yes, a heir would be the proper term. Which meant he was in essence of the same kind of being as Morbunova himself, thus, a rival. Two of their kind were not meant to be on the same world at a time. Complications always ensued which resulted in one of their kind consuming the other. It was a messy business and why they avoided contact with one another.

He focused his attention on the other one. Cloud Strife. A... clone? He wasn't familiar with the word, and forced Tifa's mind to reveal its meaning. Hmm. Interesting. Cloud seemed to be a heir of a heir. Unusual. The humans of this world and their science had created something never before seen to his knowledge. His kind infected and consumed worlds, activating the Reunion Call at the end to consume and re-integrate their cells before leaving for the next world. Save for the _Progenitor_ , they did not create heirs, did not create true, independent children, all were supposed to be consumed at the end of Reunion. The word Reunion triggered another memory in Tifa's mind, followed by the name of his kin that had come to this world, a name that sent a chill rocketing all over his body...

The humans called his kin Jenova... but he knew her true name.

Morbunova hissed in awe and anger. Firstborn. Eater of worlds, of souls, and other's of their kind, second only to their _Progenitor_. It was a terror to pass her in the flights through the stars towards new world's to feed on. She was _carnivorous_ , and one of the few who would actually seek out others of their kind to feed on if her appetite grew large enough. The Firstborn had been here on this world. The Firstborn had been slain. _THE FIRSTBORN HAD BEEN SLAIN!_ To have slain her. This world was dangerous. It had to be consumed and destroyed. To that end, he would need to adapt and overcome. The Firstborn and her heir Sephiroth had allied, but, the Firstborn's heirs would not heed his call. So perhaps...

Morbunova glanced down at Tifa Lockheart, a sinister gleam in his eye. Perhaps he needed to create his own heir, and here before him, was the perfect vessel to mold in his image. He stopped injecting her with his cells, and pulled his tendril out of her stomach. Black ooze, his cells, leaked out of the hole he left behind. He commanded that the cells stop their transformation of her body into a mere spawn child. He dove back into Tifa's memories and devoured all information he could on how Sephiroth was created. A low half-chuckle half-hiss escaped his mouth. It was easily done. The humans could only create a heir in the womb of its mother. _HE_ however was a being that was so much more capable of molding life. He modified his next infusion and jabbed his tendril back into her stomach, injecting more and more of his cells into her body.

Tifa began to struggle and scream in his grasp, enough that he had to jab his other claw into her other shoulder to keep her at bay. She was a strong willed one, and powerful as well. She wasn't even enhanced either, like the SOLDIERs her memories told him had been. But he would fix that. He would remake her in his image. He would make her strong. And he would feed her the lifeblood of the planet. Oh yes... she would become his heir, his most treasured daughter, and she would help to deliver him this world.

"TIFA!" came a yell of panic.

Morbunova twisted his head, sighting Cloud Strife rushing towards him, Sephiroth flying overhead. He injected one last infusion of his cells into Tifa's body and commanded that they begin the change before dropping her and fleeing. He ordered the cells to be subtle, and not take control of Tifa until he was ready. Cloud was an ally of Tifa, he would try to ' _help_ ' her. He would not understand what was happening, nor would he try to kill her. Not until it was to late...


	3. The Edge Incident

Cloud rushed over and knelt down next to his fallen friend. "Tifa? Tifa!"

He shook her, causing her to cough and spew black goop out of her mouth. "C-l...oud...?"

He looked down at her stomach where the Calamity had impaled her, at the hole that weak oozing the black goop. "What... did it do to you?"

Tifa coughed one last time before her eyes closed and her head rolled to her side. Cloud's heart skipped a beat and he put two fingers to her neck quickly. There was a pulse, but a weak one.

"She okay?" asked Yuffie as the ninja and the other's caught up.

He shook his head. "I don't know."

"Leave her or kill her, the _pest_ is more important to deal with at the moment," called down Sephiroth.

Cloud glared up at him. "Kill her?! Are you insane? No wait, of course you are."

Sephiroth scoffed and landed a few feet away. "She's been infected with his cells, she's as good as dead already."

Cloud looked at him, startled, before looking down at the hole in Tifa's stomach. "Shit."

He tilted her on her side and, as gently as he could, tried to drain and scoop as much of the black cells out of her stomach as he could.

"The longer you wait, puppet, the farther the _pest_ gets," said Sephiroth with annoyance.

"Unlike you, I don't turn on and abandon my friends! I help and take care of them!" retorted Cloud.

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "Hmph, little puppet, how wrong you are. I never abandoned the only ones I ever called friends. No, they abandoned and left me behind."

Cloud gave him a confused look before shaking his head and gently picked up Tifa. "C'mon Teef, I'm getting you back to Edge. Yuffie! Go to Aerith's church and get some of the her water to help Tifa! It'll clear the cells out and..."

"It's gone Cloud," whispered Yuffie.

He froze. That's right... Midgar had just been destroyed by the meteor. He looked down fearfully at Tifa, noting brown spots slowly appearing on her skin. No... she... she was developing what looked like Geostigma... she... without the water...

He ground his teeth. "I'm taking her to Edge and putting her under Marlene's care. We'll figure out what to do for her after. Cid, Yuffie! Get Barret onto the Highwind, I'll be back."

"Be quick about it, puppet, the _pest_ is gaining distance," warned Sephiroth.

Cloud ignored him and rushed off, trying his best not to jostle Tifa to badly. He reached Edge a few minutes later and swore to himself. The outer parts of the town had been utterly devastated by the meteor's wave of fire and debris. People were rushing about trying to care for the wounded and rebuild. He took note of the Shinra personnel and Turks giving out a hand, and two in particular...

"Reno! Rude!" Cloud hollared.

The two Turks turned and looked at Tifa in his arms grimly. "Seventh Heaven, now!"

The ran after him, Reno called out. "Yo! What the hell happened?"

Cloud ignored him until they reached the bar. It was still standing, but, a bit roughed up. He went in and walked up to the bar. Marlene paused her cleaning of a glass and looked at Tifa fearfully.

"Tifa! What happened?!" exclaimed Marlene.

"Upstairs, now," said Cloud.

He turned and addressed the bar patrons. "Bars closed until further notice! Get the hell out there and help pick up the town!"

The patrons grumbled, but complied. Reno and Rude walked in and followed him upstairs. Cloud walked to Tifa's room and gently set her down. He grabbed his cure materia, muttered quietly to himself, and cast the most powerful cure spell he could over her. It help to seal her stomach wound and and what was left of Sephiroth's cut...

What was left of it...?

He frowned intently. He knew Jenova's cells gave him increased healing abilities. Apparently so did Morbunova's. He didn't like this, he didn't like this at all. Even if they could cure the Geostigma like plague seeming to affect her, she'd still carry the Calamity's taint in her, just like he did. Dammit, she didn't deserve this affliction...

"Yo. What. The. Hell. Happened," demanded Reno.

"Sephiroth came back and we fought. In the middle of the fight, a new Jenova came down riding on that meteor," said Cloud.

Reno coughed and sputtered. "A new WHAT?!"

Rude fished a phone out of his pocket and began to dial a number.

"It's called Morbunova, We fought it, but, it ran and came across Tifa. She had been wounded by Sephiroth and we had left Barett with her. It knocked Barret out and... injected Tifa with its cells," explained Cloud.

Rude frowned, but merely put his phone to his ear and stepped out of the room. "Rufus, sir, we have a problem."

Cloud looked sternly at Marlene. "I want you to look after Tifa for me, I have to go and destroy the Morbunova."

Marlene nodded. "Okay, I will."

Reno frowned. "What about Sephiroth?"

Cloud smirked. "Sephiroth doesn't apparently play nice with other Calamities. He wants it dead bad enough to work alongside us, for the moment."

Reno raised an eyebrow. "He's totally gonna stab you in the back yo."

Cloud nodded grimly. "I'm aware. I'll be ready."

He stood up and moved away from the bed, hearing the Highwind approach the town. "Reno, go find Denzel for me and get him to help Marlene look after Tifa."

Reno nodded. "Sure, go give that new Jenova a good whack for the rest of us."

Cloud left without another word, going outside and seeing a rope ladder swinging down from the highwind, he jumped to it, grabbed ahold, and whispered a silent prayer, "Aerith... please look after Tifa."

* * *

Aerith heard the prayer, but could only bite her spectral body's lips nervously in response.

Minerva spoke solemnly, "As the original Calamity did before it, the new Calamity has started its infection of Gaia's children. It will corrupt and twist them, turning them against one another. It can kill and parade about within their corpses as a deceptive mockery of their lives, using the hollow shells to lull others into a false sense of security."

"I... I have to release Great Gospel, Tifa needs it, the others will need it too!" said Aerith.

Minerva shook her head. "No."

"But she needs me! I can't abandon Tifa or let down Cloud and the others!" Aerith tried to argue.

Minerva frowned. "Your closeness with them clouds your judgement. If you use that ability it will use energy from the lifestream, energy we desperately need to go through with our plan."

Aerith wanted to cry, to rage against the goddess. Minerva... she was asking her to abandon Tifa, even if it was for the greater good of the planet. She didn't know if she could live with herself for doing so...

Zack put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Sometimes, we have to follow orders, even if we don't want to. Had to do that all the time in SOLDIER. The boss lady's right, we can't mess this up. One life isn't worth the entire planet."

Aerith bowed her head. "I... I know... but..."

She looked desperately at Minerva. "What IS your plan?"

Minerva turned to Vincent and held out a hand, in her palm, a red materia formed. "Vincent Valentine, former host of Chaos. I ask, will you take up the mantle of Omega's Squire once more?"

Vincent frowned intently. "Have I not paid my penance? Can I not be allowed to rest?"

Minerva slowly shook her head. "You paid your debts a long time ago Vincent Valentine. This is not about the past, but the future. Chaos was weakened immensely during the confrontation with Omega. He cannot exist on his own outside the lifestream without a host for the foreseeable future, especially after we move onto the next phase of our plan. The planet needs you to become Chaos once more. It will take a great deal of energy to revive you and merge you with him. This time however, your union with Chaos will be... more natural and less destructive for you."

Vincent crossed his arms. "So, you want me to willingly become Chaos and fight the new Calamity and any more that come?"

Minerva pursed her lips. "Eventually, but we have another task for you first."

Vincent sighed and took the materia into his hands, slowly pressing it against his chest where it phased into him. "What is it?"

"Holy," stated Minerva, "You must find the Holy materia that was lost within the lake of the Forgotten Capital. Once you find it, we will give you further instructions."

Zack whistled. "Holy huh? Bringing out the big guns."

Aerith scowled at him. "Using Holy is no laughing matter Zack!"

Minerva ignored them and gazed into Vincent's eyes. "Are you ready?"

Vincent nodded. "I am."

The lifestream began to spin and churn around them, rushing in to surround Vincent's soul. In a flash of green light, he was gone. Minerva sagged to a knee, breathing heavily, looking drained.

Aerith gave her a worried look. "Are you alright?"

Minerva retook her feet and stood. "As well as we can be. For now, we wait."

Aerith nodded and looked back through the lifestream, looking over Tifa from the afterlife and praying for her...

* * *

Tifa Lockheart sat alone in darkness, her arms wrapped around her legs. She couldn't see or hear anything in the endless abyss. She felt ill, felt sick, felt more vileness in her body than she had ever felt before. It hurt... it hurt her body, it hurt her mind, it hurt her soul.

" _It is time... join with me... submit to my embrace... become my daughter..._ "

Tifa groaned and clutched her head, screaming in pain as a memory flashed her by...

* * *

Little Tifa Lockheart sat down on the local date spot, the water tower, in Nibelheim, her feet kicking against it softly, she looked up at her friend, a young Cloud Strife who was going to be leaving to join SOLDIER. "Hey, let's make a promise."

She grew a little nervous. "Umm... if you get really famous and I'm ever in a bind... you'll come save me, all right?"

Cloud looked down at her, startled. "What?"

Tifa grew bashful and looked down. "If I'm ever in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to experience that at least once."

Cloud frowned at her. "You want me to... rescue you?"

Tifa hesitated for a moment. He sounded... angry? That wasn't supposed to happen! Had she said something wrong?

She looked up at him desperately. "Come on! Promise me!"

Cloud glared down at her. "Why should I rescue you? The last time I did that, I got blamed for everything when you got hurt!"

Tifa wilted under his glare. "I... I'm sorry..."

Cloud spit at her and leapt off the water-tower. "Forget it, you can rescue yourself from now on."

Tifa watched him go, feeling miserable and heartbroken. She put her head in her hands and cried...

* * *

Tifa cried out, gripping her head. No... that... that wasn't what happened... it... no... was it...? He had promised her... no... he had refused the promise...?

" _He abandoned you my daughter... they all abandoned you..._ "

Everything hurt so much... which was the truth? Which was the lie? Had Cloud promised to protect her? Or had he refused the promise? She... she didn't know...

She gave another scream as another memory flashed her by...

* * *

Nibelheim burned. Sephiroth, Cloud's hero, destroyed and murdered everything and everyone. She followed him, tried to stop him, but was cut down. Cloud never came... he never showed up... he left her to die... if not for Zangan, she would have died...

* * *

Tifa shivered, groaning painfully, the black abyss around her churned and bubbled.

" _Do you not see? He abandoned you. They all abandoned you, refused to trust you. The one you loved left you for another..._ "

* * *

Tifa leaned over the side of Don Corneo's wagon, sighing to herself. Cloud was too expensive to rely on buying his skills to help them. She considered herself lucky she had been able to get him to agree to even one mission instead of storming off at the sight of her. She had to take matters into her own hands.

She pouted a bit. She cared for him, but didn't know how to properly show it or tell him. She hadn't heard or seen him since the failed date on the watertower back home. When he had just suddenly walked into the bar in sector seven, it had taken everything she had just to convince him to help her and the rest of Avalanche.

She sighed. Not that Avalanche trusted her. Barret Walace could barely tolerate her, and little Marlene always stuck her tongue out at her and continually hassled her. She just wanted them to accept her, but no matter what she did, it always blew up in her face. She was lucky they hadn't thrown her out...

She HAD to do this! She had to get all the information she could out of Don Corneo, then she'd prove herself to them! And maybe Cloud wouldn't look down on her anymore either... wait... was that Cloud?

As the carriage moved past the sector seven gate, she noticed him sitting ontop of a slide next to a girl in pink. She gasped and grew mortified when they both leaned against one another to kiss...

He... he had found someone else...

* * *

Tifa let loose another scream of pain. No! It was a lie! Her friends cared for her! Cloud... he... he might have cared for Aerith yes... but he never kissed her... not then... had he...?

" _They hate you my child... you know it to be true..._ "

She shivered, feeling so lost and confused...

* * *

"Biggs, Jessie, and Wedge are ALL DEAD because of you!" yelled Barret, pointing an accusing finger at Tifa, "You killed EVERYONE in sector seven!

"No! I...," began Tifa tearfully.

"You fuck up! You weaseled your way into Don Corneo's mansion like a fucking whore. Did it ever occur to you that he might know who you are? He worked out where you came from and told the damn Turks, they told me! And low and behold, you come when its TO DAMN LATE to actually help and they drop the damn plate!" roared Barret.

Tifa trembled under his barrage, even Cloud was looking at her in disgust.

"If it wasn't for that Aerith lady, Marlene woulda died to, she was captured protecting my daughter like you SHOULD have been," yelled Barret.

"Your a fuck up Lockheart, I don't know why the hell I bother with you," he muttered, "Were going to bust Aerith out of Shinra, and if you have any good bone in your body, you'll help us do it!"

"I... of course I'll help!" she said desperately.

Barret narrowed her eyes. "You better, and I swear Lockheart, if you fuck this up again..."

* * *

Tifa sobbed to herself, clutching her head and falling to her side, curling up into a ball.

Lies! It was a lie! She... she hadn't been the one responsible for sector seven's destruction... she... it... no... had she...?

Tears streamed down her face. Had she gotten them all killed?

* * *

"You fucked it up again Lockheart!" roared Barret from his prison cell, "How the hell could you screw THIS up? We went up all those stairs, slipped by security, got Aerith, and you trip a fucking alarm on the way out!"

"I... I'm sorry," stammered Tifa.

Cloud glared at her from his corner of the prison cell. "Why couldn't someone useful have survived Nibelheim?"

Tifa pushed herself into the corner of her cell, brought her legs up to her chest, and cried into them.

"Fucking useless," muttered Barret.

* * *

Tifa let out an anguished scream, clutching her head and convulsing on the ground of the black abyss she was trapped in. It wasn't her fault! It wasn't her fault! They... why had they been so mean to her? She had been trying so hard... trying to hard to help them...

" _They are cruel my child..._ "

Yes... the... the voice was right... they were so cruel! She had given up so much to try and help them, but, they kept on being so mean... she had fought just as long and hard as they did! Tried to help them cope and get through the madness of Sephiroth's return and Meteorfall.

" _You didn't deserve their cruelty my child... you tried so hard to be there for them, only for them to accuse you and turn you away..._ "

Turn her away...?

" _Do you not remember my child? Let me show you..._ "

* * *

Tifa watched as Cloud withdrew into himself after letting Aerith's corpse drop into the lake at the Forgotten Capital. He sat alone, miserable. She felt so bad for him... she had put aside her own feelings when she had seen how happy Cloud was with her. Now? He just looked like a wreck...

She bit her lip. She couldn't leave him alone right now, she was afraid for him. She walked over to him and knelt down next to him.

"Cloud? Are you okay?" she asked tenderly.

"I'm fine!" he shouted bitterly.

She bit her lips nervously and scooted a little closer, wrapping her arms around him to give him a hug. "It'll be okay Cloud."

She gave a yelp when he threw her off of him. "Really Tifa?! She hasn't been gone an hour and you try to move in? God, your scum."

She looked at him, shocked. "That's not... I wasn't..."

"Low Lockheart, really low," muttered Barret, "If you weren't at least capable of fighting I might shoot you just to put you out of your fuckin misery."

* * *

Tifa sobbed to herself. She hadn't meant to hurt Cloud! She had been trying to comfort him! Not take advantage of him after Aerith had died! Why... why had it ended that way? WHY! Why why why why why?!

She gave a scream of pain as her memories locked into place, she saw years of abuse and neglect flash through her eyes, all done by her so called 'friends'. Why didn't they just trust her? Why did they have to say such hurtful things to her? Accuse her of things she didn't mean to do?

" _They don't trust you. They don't care for you. They don't love you. They hate you._ "

Tifa bowed her head, tears streaming down her face. "After everything I did for them? Even after all these years, despite how much I've been there for Cloud and the others, they still hate me. It's not fair..."

" _No, it's not my child, but it's alright..._ "

No... no it's not... nothing will ever be okay... nothing will ever be alright again...

" _But it will be. For my child, you are precious to me. Where they hate you, I will love you. Where they will abandon you, I will hold you close. Where they would seek to demean and weaken you, I will praise you and make you strong._ "

Tifa looked up. "You... love me?"

" _Oh yes my dear child. If you will but accept me into your heart, I will accept you into mine. Speak my name, accept me as your father, and yourself as my daughter..._ "

Tifa shivered. "I..."

" _Do it, accept me, head my call..._ "

A name sounded in her mind. It sounded... the name, and the voice, he seemed to care so much for her... unlike the others...

" _Tifa_!" a familiar voice screamed into the silence, " _Don't do it! It's lying to you_!"

Tifa groaned and clutched her head. "A-aerith?!"

" _She's trying to take you from me my child. Reject her, and accept me. Become my daughter, and I will give you everything you are missing in your life. Family, respect, and my unconditional love. Together, we will take revenge on those who have wrong you..._ "

"Those who have wronged me...," whispered Tifa, losing focus on Aerith's voice.

" ** _Tifa! NO_!** " screamed Aerith.

"Morbunova... my... father... please... accept me as your daughter...," whispered Tifa.

There was a deep chuckle as the black abyss around her began to change colors, turning a deep blood red shade. A buzzing sound filled her ears, all consuming.

" _Awaken my treasured daughter,_ " whispered Morbunova, " _Awaken my chosen one._ _Take revenge, and come to me..._ "

* * *

Aerith let loose a scream as she was forcefully ejected out of Tifa's mind. " ** _TIFA NO_**!"

Zack grabbed her shoulders to steady her. "Aerith? What's wrong?!"

"Oh no...," whispered Aerith, mortified, "Oh no no no no, I should have used it... I should have used the gospel... I could have saved her..."

Zack grew confused. "I... don't understand..."

Minerva spoke, its tone grave. "Tifa Lockheart is gone, and in her place, the new Calamity has sired its child. Omega's Squire must be swift, we feel that things are about to spiral out of control in a way we never foresaw..."

* * *

Tifa coughed and opened her eyes, groaning.

"Oh thank heavens your awake at last!" came a voice, "Your still so pale though, and your hair's gone gray..."

Tifa turned her head, sighting Marlene leaning over her. "At least your awake though, we were so worried!"

Tifa growled. "Why the hell would you care?"

Marlene blinked a few times, growing confused. "Tifa?"

Their eyes met, and Marlene froze. "What's with your eyes...?"

" _She and her father have wronged you my daughter_ ," her father's voice whispered into her mind, " _Take revenge. Kill her._ "

Tifa smiled cruelly at Marlene and grabbed her throat with one hand, and the top of her head with another.

"Tifa?! What are you doing?" cried out a voice from the doorway.

Tifa turned her head and saw Denzel there, staring at her with horror. "Don't worry Denzel, I'll be with you in a moment."

She turned her sickeningly cruel smile back to Marlene and wrenched, snapping her neck with such force her head twisted around, killing her near instantly. She let go, watching the girl slump over and collapse onto the ground. Tifa slowly pushed her blanket off of her and stood up, staring down at the girl. She felt a brief pang of... something... was it... guilt? Sadness? Why did she feel those things for this little bitch?

" _Because your heart is great enough to care for those who wronged you so. Yet still they made you suffer, they must be punished for their crimes_ ," came her Father's voice.

Tifa grinned wickedly and looked at the boy in the doorway. "It's time for your punishment Denzel..."

* * *

Cloud Strife walked out of the main cabin of the Highwind, rubbing his eyes. For some reason he had the most awful feeling in his stomach, and it was growing worse by the minute. He paused, sighting Sephiroth standing at the front of the airship. He hesitated briefly before walking over.

"Do you have any idea where it might have gone?" demanded Cloud.

Sephiroth turned and raised an eyebrow. "I am not connected to him as I was my mother. I could faintly feel his presence for a time, but he has gone silent, hiding himself. Had you not wasted time on Lockheart, puppet, we might have been able to catch it."

Cloud glared at him. "Shut up!"

Sephiroth had his sword out in a flash and had it pointed inches from his neck. "Tut tut puppet, you should mind your words, talking back to your master like that? On your knees, I want you to beg for forgiveness."

Cid, Yuffie, Nanaki, and Barret, with a new gun arm, walked out onto the deck seconds later, weapons ready.

Cloud glared at him. "Sephiroth, I swear I'm going to kill..."

_Brr. Brr._

Cloud frowned, feeling his phone vibrate.

Sephiroth chuckled and put his sword away. "You should answer that."

Cloud scowled and got out his phone. It was a call from Denzel.

He flicked the phone open. "Denzel? How's Tifa...?

" _CLOUD_!" Denzel screamed through the phone with terror, loud enough for the others to hear.

Cloud winced and pulled the phone away, putting it on speaker. "Denzel?! What's wrong?"

"It's Tifa! Oh god, shes gone insane!" screamed Denzel, sounding like he was running.

Cloud began to sweat. "What do you mean?"

"She... oh god... she killed Marlene... she snapped her neck...," exclaimed Denzel.

Barret gave a horrified cry. "NO! MARLENE!"

"Tifa... shes... oh god shes killing everyone!" screamed Denzel, "Something... somethings wrong with her Cloud! Her hairs gone all gray, almost silvery. Her eyes... they're red... they look just like a cats..."

Cloud froze. "Tifa..."

Sephiroth frowned intently. "I warned you that you should have killed her, but you didn't listen my puppet."

Cloud recovered and gripped the phone tightly. "Denzel, I want you to get out of there. Run, and don't stop. Just run!"

"Cloud, shes... oh god shes coming for me!" squealed Denzel with distress.

"DENZEL! RUN!" roared Cloud into the phone desperately.

There was a sound of heavy breathing and running before an audible *CRACK* sound erupted from the phone followed by Denzel screaming in pain. There was a clattering of a phone being dropped.

"Tsk, it would have been easier for you if you just stood still," came a sickeningly sweet voice from the phone.

Cloud shivered. The voice sounded like Tifa... but... it sounded so wrong...

"Hmm? Calling someone were we? Who... oh... him," came Tifa's voice with disdain.

The sound of a phone being picked up was heard. "Hello Cloud."

"Tifa! Stop!" begged Cloud into the phone, "Don't hurt Denzel!"

There was a dark chuckle from the other end of the phone. "Oh Cloud. Cloud, Cloud, Cloud. You ask me this now? After all I did for you, after all the hell you put me through, all the times you and the others yelled at me, abused me, accused me?"

"Tifa... what are you talking about?" exclaimed Cloud with confusion.

"Forgotten me already? Well, that's alright, you never paid attention to me anyway but to yell at me. Despite that, I have a wonderful gift for you, Cloud. Something you and the others have given me all throughout my life," said Tifa with a deadly calmly Cloud had only ever heard from Sephiroth.

There was a painful scream from Denzil before he suddenly went silent at a god awful _RIPPING_ sound and the sound of blood splattering. "Despair."

_CLICK. BEEP._

The phone went dead. Cloud stared at it for a moment before it fell out his hands. He fell to his knees, gave a roar of pain, suffering, and loss, and slammed his fist into and through the flight deck of the Highwind...

* * *

Tifa held up Denzel's ripped off head to her lips and kissed his forehead. "Goodnight Denzel, sweet dreams."

"Yo Tifa what's... god... what the hell...?" came a voice.

She turned her head, sighting Reno. "Hello Mr. Turk."

She dropped Denzel's head and crushed it under her foot, sending splatter everywhere. "I believe you and I have things to... resolve. I seem to recall you dropping a plate on sector seven and getting me blamed for it."

Reno took a step back. "The... fuck... Tifa... what happened to you? Why did you kill Denzel?!"

Tifa narrowed her eyes. "Because Father wills it."

Tifa was a blur as she charged Reno. The Turk swore, pulled out his electro-rod, and swung it at Tifa. She ducked under the attack and thrust her fist forward with all of her might. She punched clean through his chest, sending blood spraying everywhere.

Reno coughed, blood leaking out of his mouth, and dropped his weapon. "T-ifa... why..."

She pulled her fist out of him and started walking away as Reno dropped to the ground dead. She put a hand into her pocket and pulled out a fire materia, equipping it into her glove. She turned and looked at Seventh Heaven, before aiming a hand at it and releasing a blast of fire. The building ignited in flames a moment later.

Tifa began to laugh, almost hysterically, as she turned and unleashed fire everywhere, upon every building. As people poured out, trying to get away, she was upon them, killing them with years of honed proficiency. One by one, by one, she killed them all. A punch through the chest, a neck snap, a head caving in under the force of her fists, it didn't mater, they died, they all died. When the ones coming from the outskirts of the town returned, they died too. Her fists, her arms, her legs, they were all covered in blood by the end of her work.

She smiled at her work, humming a soft eerie tune to herself, and aimed a hand at the first corpse, ready to burn it.

" _No, leave them for me my daughter_ ," came her Father's voice.

Tifa paused and titled her head. "Why?"

" _Because they may be of use to us, even in death_ ," was his reply.

"As you wish, Father," answered Tifa.

" _Gather them together for me_ ," said Father.

"Yes Father," answered Tifa, reaching down and grabbing the first corpse.

One by one, she dragged them out of the inferno consuming Edge. She lined them up one by one, except for two bodies that she cast aside.

" _My daughter_?" asked Father with confusion.

Tifa's lips curled into a sneer. "I'm leaving Marlene and Denzel for them, as a message."

There was a chuckle. " _I see, I'll be there soon._ "

Tifa waited as patiently as she could. She could feel him. She could feel _Father_. He was coming... closer and closer... she could feel him...

_SLAM!_

Tifa gave a startled cry as a fist hit the back of her head with extreme force. She staggered and fell to a knee before turning her head and hissing, sighting the Turk Rude standing behind her. He reached down for her, grasping her neck and squeezing. Tifa grabbed his hand and crushed it in her own, electing a startled cry from the man. She yanked him down and slammed him into the ground by her side. She rolled ontop of him and wrapped her hands around his neck and squeezed. He struggled for a short time, before his strength fell, and his body went still.

Tifa growled in agitation. She had been caught offguard. She dumped Rude's body off at the end of the line of corpses and stood at the ready, waiting patiently, but keeping her eyes open this time.

At last, she saw him, her beloved Father, flying down and landing infront of her. She stared at him wordlessly, awestruck by his powerful and fearsome form. Father eyed her briefly, before turning and approaching the first of the corpses. A tendril snaked out of his chest and stabbed the corpse, injecting a black liquid into it. He kept repeating the process, one by one.

Tifa was broken out of her stupor at the familiar sound of the Highwind off in the distance. She sighted the ship on the otherside of the town, dropping off a group of people off the side on a ladder.

"May we kill them Father? Just the two of us? Together?" asked Tifa hopefully.

" _Your not strong enough_ ," her Father replied.

"Oh...," answered Tifa, feeling dejected.

" _But you will be, soon my daughter, I will make you strong_ ," said her Father.

Tifa perked up at that, and then watched curiously as the corpses of those she had killed rose to their feet and began to shamble away, their dead eyes glowing red.

" _They will serve._ _Now... come to me,_ " ordered her Father...

* * *

Cloud was horrified, no, horrified didn't even begin to describe what he felt. It was Nibelheim all over again. Everything was on fire. There was blood everywhere, but there were _no_ bodies. The worst thing... the worst thing was that unlike Nibelheim, it wasn't his childhood hero who had destroyed Edge, who had murdered Marlene and Denzel. It was Tifa...

The pushed through the flames, trying to find survivors, and trying to find Tifa. At the other edge of the town, they found her. Cloud skidded to a halt, mortified. For a brief moment, it was Nibelheim again, and he was watching Sephiroth disappear into the flames. Then, his vision corrected itself. He saw Tifa, her hair gray, silvery like Sephiroth's. Her eyes, her red, catlike eyes, briefly passed over him, filled with hate, before she turned and walked through the spreading fire towards Morbunova.

She stared up into its face with childlike awe and longing. She wrapped her arms around its torso as far as she could, pulled herself up, and kissed its cheek before laying herself against the Calamity.

"Father...," said Tifa, her voice a whisper that he could barley hear over the cackle of flames.

Morbunova turned its head, its eyes locking right onto Cloud's. If it were capable of facial expressions, he was sure it would have been grinning mockingly at him. The Calamity wrapped a tentacle across her back, pinning Tifa to him, before it took off a flew into the air, vanishing off into the distance...


	4. Chapter 4

Sephiroth watch with growing aggravation as Cloud fell to his knees at the ruined corpse of his adopted son Denzel. The puppet was damaged, borderline broken. Through the link they shared, he could feel his despair, his loss of will to fight. It was everything he could have dreamed of. Only, there was one problem. _HE_ hadn't been the one to do it. The _pest_ had done it, stolen the glory and satisfaction from him. Through the _pest's_ newfound child; Tifa had given Cloud the gift of despair. She had stolen his gift and given it in his stead...

He was _LIVID_.

Even more than that, he had been outdone. Not even his destruction of Nibelheim had been as devastating or as brutal. Tifa killed every last man, woman, and child. He had left survivors, if only because he couldn't be bothered to track them down while Mother was waiting for him. But beyond the loss of life, there was something far more destructive. No one had particularly cared when he had went insane. Perhaps... perhaps _Zack_ had, but, he had still fought. Cloud himself had just been angry that his childhood hero turned out to be a monster, he didn't personally care. But, there were people who cared about Tifa Lockheart, many people, including those she had just murdered. This was blow that would last until the day they all died, from which, he doubted any of them would truly ever recover. Tifa had emotionally damaged them so heavily, he wasn't certain _ANY_ of them could be of further use. While he was powerful, he doubted he could take on both the _pest_ and a Calamity empowered Tifa at the same time. He, unfortunately, required the puppet's aid and currently, the puppet was a mess.

This was unacceptable.

Sephiroth grudgingly recalled memories of his days as the top of SOLDIER 1st Class. How to lead, how to command. These were things he had not used in a long time. He was loath to dredge up the past, but, there was little choice at the moment. He identified the problem immediately: Moral, there was none. If nothing was done, then the puppet would be useless in the upcoming fights. He might still force his body to move and fight, but it would be without the heart and soul he put into their own personal fights. As much as he desired it, he would not see his puppet broken, not by the hands of another.

"Strife," said Sephiroth, choosing to drop the term 'puppet' and his first name 'Cloud' in favor of a professional acknowledgement as to not break him further.

Cloud didn't respond.

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. When he spoke, he was to be acknowledged.

"Cadet Strife, you will answer when I speak to you," barked Sephiroth.

Cloud barely tilted his head. "Cadet?"

There was a quiver of a smirk on Sephiroth's face. "I don't believe you ever became anything higher than a SOLDIER Cadet. Unless you count trooper cannon fodder or being an experiment as above that."

Cloud turned his head back to Denzel with nothing more than a grunt given in acknowledgement.

Sephiroth resisted the urge to drive Masamune through the back of his head and be done with it, he needed something to force action, but what?

Oh, oh yes, he had an idea, as much as the thought of the words leaving his mouth disgusted him. "If you want to save your friend Tifa, you will need to stop this pitiful display of weakness, pick up your sword, and move on."

That got his attention. "Save Tifa?"

Sephiroth nodded curtly and spoke a... half-truth, half-lie. "She is under the _pest's_ direct influence and control. Destroy him, and she may yet be salvaged."

The lie was that Tifa was being controlled. He hadn't felt any active and direct control being issued from the _pest_. No, whatever the _pest_ had done to her to warp her mind had made her slaughter those she once cared for willingly. He could readily admit, he admired the _pest's_ handiwork. Shame that he had to kill him.

The truth was that if there was anything actually to be done for Tifa, the _pest_ did have to die first. If only to make sure he didn't interfere in the process. Whatever the puppet and his allies could try to do for her could only come afterwords, not that he really cared either way. But... he could admit, he was... curious about what she had become. Save for the color of her eyes... she did directly change to resemble him, in color, complexity, and presence. Would all children of the Calamities share such features and presence? His remnants had, but, they were remnants. They were supposed to resemble him.

Cloud gave a frustrated sigh and rose to his feet. "He's right. We have to move. We'll make a grave and bury Marlene and Denzel here for now. This is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Let's mosey people."

Sephiroth crossed his arms and watched them bury the two children. When they finished, they walked past him towards the airship, or at least, most of them did.

Cloud paused briefly at his side, a conflicted look on his face. "I lost myself for a moment there. Sephiroth... I... thanks... I guess..."

Sephiroth's eyes went wide with surprise as Cloud walked onward. Had the puppet just _THANKED_ him? Perhaps he was more broken than he thought...

* * *

Aerith watched dispassionately from the lifestream as Cloud and the others boarded the airship and left in pursuit of the new Calamity and... its daughter...

A wave of horrific guilt hit her. "Oh Tifa..."

Zack squeezed her shoulder. "It's not your fault Aerith."

Aerith didn't have the strength to argue with him right now. She just watched, depressed, at the events unfolding on the world above them.

"Omega's Squire has attained the Holy Materia," said Minerva.

Aerith focused her gaze and looked to the Forgotten Capital, seeing Vincent fly out of the water clutching the precious materia. "Good, but..."

She frowned. "What can honestly be done with it? I thought only a Cetra could use it?"

"You are correct," answered Minerva.

Aerith turned to her, growing confused. "Is... is there another Cetra alive?!"

Minerva shook her head. "No. You were the last."

Aerith grew confused. "Then... why seek out Holy?"

Minerva merely smiled at her and spoke aloud, but not to them. "Vincent Valantine, are you prepared for your next task?"

Vincents voice echoed back to them. "Yes."

"Go back into the lake and retrieve my beloved daughter's body," ordered Minerva.

Aerith blinked a few times. Minerva wanted her body brought up from the lake? Why? And wait, it was still there? Why hadn't it dispersed to the lifestream? Strange...

She watched Vincent dive back in, and a few minutes later, she saw him return with her corpse. She... was surprised to see that it had changed at all. Her body hadn't decayed whatsoever...

"Good, now, set her down upon the alter, cut open her heart and then wait," ordered Minerva.

Aerith paled a bit, watching as Vincent did as instructed. "What? Why are you having him butcher my corpse?!"

Minerva did not answer her immediately. "Hold Holy within your hand and wait Vincent Valentine."

Minerva turned to Aerith. "Beloved child. You who have given up so much in your life. I must ask of you one more task."

Aerith looked at her, not understanding. "What?"

"Welcome Holy into your heart," said Minerva, "Become my Holy WEAPON."

Aerith went still, shock on her face. "You... your... I..."

"Your going to send her back, send her back just to fight that thing?" accused Zack with anger.

Minerva ignored him. "Beloved child. Will you merge with Holy? Will you become my most treasured and beloved WEAPON? Will you help to save Gaia and strike down the Calamity's and their children?"

Aerith's face hardened. "And their children? If your sending me back to kill Tifa, then the answer is _**NO**_!"

Minerva was taken aback. "Beloved child..."

Aerith stood her ground. "Its my fault she became like that because I listened to **_YOU_**! I will _**NOT** _ kill Tifa! She can be saved! I know she can!"

Minerva studied her briefly. "If so, she cannot be saved from the lifestream."

Aerith frowned at her. "Goddess..."

"Become my Holy WEAPON, and your friend Tifa's fate will be placed into your hands. Whether she can be saved or not, the Planet will wash it's hands of her judgement, that is the most we will offer," bargained Minerva, "Is this acceptable?"

Aerith nodded. "It is."

Minerva smiled at her. "Your life will be yours to live as you see fit in times of peace. But when called, you must rise to fight as my Holy WEAPON. Now, beloved daughter, prepare yourself."

"Vincent Valentine, place the Holy Materia into my beloved child's heart and stand back," ordered Minerva.

Aerith trembled with anticipation and nervousness as Vincent did as instructed... and...

And her world turned white and green...

* * *

Zack Fair covered his eyes as a flash of light enveloped Aerith. When he brought his arm down, she was gone.

He smiled. "Good luck Aerith..."

He sighed sadly. "I wish I could help her. Don't suppose I could convince you to send me back to help her as well?"

Minerva turned her head to look at him. "No."

Zack's face fell. "Figured."

Minerva chuckled. "No, you need not convince us on an act we have already decided upon."

Zack coughed. "Wait... what? Seriously?!"

Minerva turned fully to address him. "Zack Fair. You have never acknowledged it within Aerith's presence, but, you do remember us, do you not?"

Zack winced. "Y-yeah... we kind of fought in the Cavern of Wonders... was wondering if you remembered that."

Minerva smiled. "There is a reason beyond the company you give to our beloved daughter that we did not allow your soul to disperse into the lifestream. We tested your power and will, and we were impressed. You will make a fine WEAPON."

Zack blushed a little. "Praise from a goddess, oh man. So what kind of WEAPON am I gonna be? Please don't tell me I'm a Puppy WEAPON.

Minerva seemed amused. "No, not quite."

"Feeeeew," exclaimed Zack with relief.

"Zack Fair, will you accept our offer at life and become our Dream WEAPON?" asked Minerva.

Zack blinked a few times, taken aback. "Uh... Dream WEAPON? What kind of name is that?"

"You Zack Fair, have never given up upon your dreams, on your honor and pride, on your friends or those you love," said Minerva, "You sacrificed everything for them, for a dream that never truly died. So long as you, or someone that holds you dear in their heart shares in your dream, you can never truly die. As Calamity's Child does, you will be able to will yourself to be reborn again, as a dream that never dies. Will you accept? Will you bear Gaia's dreams upon your shoulders?"

Zack stared at her, speechless. "Goddess..."

He scratched his head. "Yeah sure, why not? Hit me up and I'll go take a crack at that Calamity thing!"

Minerva held up a hand. "In time. There is one final task you must first take within the lifestream. There is one more WEAPON we wish to craft, the Honor WEAPON."

Zack raised an eyebrow. "Another weird named one."

Minerva nodded. "While capable of fighting, his duty is different. His purpose is to uphold the integrity, purity, and mental stability of the other WEAPONs, and any further ones we may create in the future. So long as he lives, he can prevent the Calamity's taint from afflicting the other WEAPONS. Thus, his purpose is perhaps the most important. For if the Calamity's could take a WEAPON from us, disaster would befall us all. It took us much effort to restore his consciousness and memories from the lifestream. However he is... unwilling to rise to the occasion. He has forgotten his dreams, and his honor. We ask that you remind him."

Minerva waved her hand, and a form began to appear from the swirl of the lifestream.

Zack suckered in a breath. "Angeal..."

* * *

Aerith groaned and reached a hand up to rub her forehead. "Oww..."

Her hand. She had a physical hand. She took in a breath, feeling real air in her lungs. She felt her damp clothes on her skin. She felt her body tingle, restored and in use once more. She felt... she felt alive... she was alive...

"Welcome back Aeirth," said a voice above her.

Aerith opened her eyes, noticing Vincent standing above her, offering a hand. She smiled and took it, enjoying the feeling, the sensation, of physical contact, letting him haul her up.

"It's good to be b-b-back...," started Aerith.

A dizzy spell hit her and she nearly collapsed, clutching a hand over her heart. "I... what..."

A soft green-white glow surrounded her body for a moment. For a second, she could feel the lifestream just as readily as she could while in the lifestream. no, even more-so. She could fully hear the planets call in a way that she had never been able to before in her previous life. She felt... an open connection to the planet, and could faintly hear Minerva and Zack talking. She froze, shocked, when she heard Minerva's proposal to Zack.

A smile touched her lips. "Thank you Minerva..."

Vincent raised an eyebrow.

Aerith shook her head and focused. "She's connected me to the planet in a way I never thought possible."

She closed her eyes. "I can feel the Calamity's presence as if it were a festering wound in my own body. It's on the move, Tifa and the infected corpses in tow. It's..."

Her eyes went wide with horror. "Oh no... it's heading for Mideel! The Mako pool... if it feeds on that... Vincent! We have to go, now!"

* * *

Zack Fair stood across from Angeal Hewely, both of them staring at each other with apprehension. What was he supposed to say to him? What was he supposed to do? No, no wait, he knew _EXACTLY_ what to do right now.

Zack walked up to Angeal and slugged him across his face as hard as he could, sending him staggering. "How could you _DO THAT_ to me Angeal?"

Angeal said nothing.

"You... you made me kill you Angeal," whispered Zack, "Do you... do you know what that was like Angeal? It... it was awful."

"I'm sorry Zack," murmured Angeal.

"Oh no, no, you don't get out of this with just an 'I'm sorry Zack," said Zack with fury.

He walked up and pointed a finger in his face. "You abandoned me! No, even worse, you abandoned Seph!"

Angeal frowned. "Sephiroth became the monster we were all born to be..."

Zack yelled at him, " _SHUT UP_! I'm sick of that crap! You Angeal, were _NEVER_ a monster! Seph, was _NOT_ a monster back then, and from what I remember hearing, neither was Genesis at the beginning. Wings sprouting out of your back does NOT make you a monster. Hell, if you ask me I would have gladly grown a wing just to prove it. Those things are cool man."

Minerva seemed amused at his words, a soft chuckle escaping her lips, but remained silent.

Zack continued, "But it didn't matter in the end, and you know what did matter Angeal? You. Weren't. There. When Seph was lost in himself, when he started down that path I watched him descend to, when he went crazy, you weren't there to stop him. You could have grounded him to reality in a way I wasn't able to. You could have helped him through it! But NO! You abandoned him, you and Genesis both. He had no one left Angeal, no one and nothing. You don't know how much that destroyed him, and I wasn't even close to enough to help him. He was going to leave Shinra after that mission, but then... then... he just went... he killed... Hey! Don't you look away!"

Zack clenched his fists. "Dammit Angeal! Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

Angeal flinched and forced his eyes to meet him. "Zack..."

"Where was your SOLDIER honor? Where was your SOLDIER pride? Without you, SOLDIER became a den of monsters!" exclaimed Zack, "Without you, Sephiroth became the monster he is today."

Angeal bowed his head. "I am without honor."

Zack walked up to him again, but rather than strike him, he hugged him fiercely, as if life or death. "Then reclaim it."

Angeal flinched. "Zack..."

"Come back with me, help me make things right!" demanded Zack.

"I don't... I don't know if I can," said Angeal, "What I've done in the past..."

Zack shook his head and separated from him. "It's like Minerva said to Vincent. It's not about the past. It's about the future. Reclaim your honor, reclaim your pride, and make a new dream for yourself."

Angeal smiled faintly. "A new dream?"

Zack nodded. "Yeah, c'mon, you can think of one, right? Dare to dream big!"

Angeal leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "I... I dream, I want... I want things to be the way they were before. Between the three of us."

Zack blinked a few times. "Three?"

"I want to sit together, with Genesis and Sephiroth, as friends once more, sharing Banora Whites," said Angeal faintly.

Zack smirked. "That's a tough one, but, I did say dream big, didn't I? Ya know, I think Genesis shared that dream too. He even made a mock up of it with me when I was running from Shinra. It's better when multiple people share in a dream."

Angeal grew quiet. "Genesis..."

Zack nodded. "Minerva said he's back too. Guess you'll have to try and fix things together. Don't envy you though, that's your mess your cleanup. I'm really not interested in fighting Sephiroth again unless I have to."

His face darkened. "Though, if he dares go after Aerith again, I'll do what I have to."

Angeal nodded. "Sephiroth is... my burden to bear I suppose."

"So, you'll come back then?" asked Zack.

Angeal sighed. "I don't deserve a second chance Zack, but... others do. If my mere existence can keep the other WEAPONs pure and safeguard the planet, then... what right to I have to refuse? It's the least penance I can pay."

Zack crossed his arms. "I ain't gonna argue whether you deserve a second chance or not with you right now. We have a job to do as SOLDIERs. That Calamity thing is going to kill or corrupt everything on the planet. We have to go."

Zack started to turn before pausing. "I also have something of yours I need to give back when we go back."

Angeal frowned. "Something of mine?"

Zack turned to Minerva. "I'm pretty sure neither of us have bodies at the moment."

Minerva nodded. "We will create you new bodies, recreations of what you once were, but imbued with the power of a WEAPON."

"Can you send us back at Midgar? Or well, whats left of it? There's something there I need to pick up there," said Zack.

Minerva nodded, a hint of understanding on her face. "As you wish. But, know this. After we send you back, the part the planet has to play in this will be over. We will be... tired... far to tired to help. Reviving a soul and restoring a body is an extreme use of our already weakened power. The Planet's fate will be in your hands.

Zack nodded. "Alright."

He turned his head. "Ready 'Geal?"

Angeal nodded curtly. "As ready as I can be."

Minerva aimed a hand at them and then spoke one final offering. "Dreams, my WEAPON, never let go of them."

With a flash of light, they were gone.

* * *

Zack groaned and rose to a knee. "Oww, major headache man."

He frowned, feeling something strange on his shoulder. He looked to his right, seeing a white wing floppily laying over his shoulder. "C'mon Angeal, get your wing off me."

There was a groan, but, the distance was rather far away...

Zack gave a startled yelp and leaped to his feet in shock. It wasn't Angeal's wing... it was _HIS_ wing. What the heck?

He hesitated, flexing his shoulder and extending the wing. "Woah... cooooooooool! Heeeey Angeal look! I guess Minerva took me for my word and got me a wing just like yours!"

Angeal sat up in the distance, gazing over at him. "Zack..."

Zack took a look around, they were at the Midgar Crater. He could only hope he could find what he was looking for.

"So, how do we use these things?" asked Zack, thumbing at the wing.

Angeal looked a bit lost, seeing him so casually acting after getting a wing. "I... well... it's kind of instinctual I suppose. Just... flap it I guess?"

Zack snorted. "Just flap it he says. Well, why not?"

Zack flexed his shoulder, and the wing righted itself before beating down and thrusting him into the air with a giant gust... and then he crashed back down after.

"Omph, whoops," said Zack.

Angeal stared at the spectacle for a moment before he started chuckling. "Well, perhaps the puppy has been upgraded to a 'chick'."

"Nope, that's Spikey's role. He's totally the chocobo," countered Zack.

Zack tried again, continually, but softly beating the wing to keep himself inair. "Awesome... hey, C'mon Angeal!"

Angeal hesitated for a moment before releasing his wing from his back and extending it. They took off and flew into the crator.

"C'mon, there's no way the that meteor could have destroyed it," said Zack.

"What exactly are you looking for?" asked Angeal.

"Something special that you gave to me," answer Zack.

Angeal went silent, thinking.

Thankfully, they didn't have to go far. Out of a slab of rock, still standing in pristine condition, as if waiting for them, was the Buster Sword. Zack flew down to it, pulled it out, and turned to Angeal who landed next to him.

"Here, I believe this is your's," said Zack.

Angeal took a step back. "Zack... I'm not fit to wield that..."

Zack flipped it, handle out, and poked Angeal in the chest. "Full circle man, you passed it on to me, I passed it on to Spikey, he ditched it, now I'm taking it to pass it back to you. Take it, and actually use it this time, ya hear me? None of that wear and tear crap."

Angeal looked lost and conflicted for a moment before he hesitatingly put his hands on the handle. Zack let go and watched, a smile spreading across his face, as Angeal gripped his sword two handed, hefting it up.

"Welcome back old friend," whispered Angeal, a sad look on his face.

Angeal paused. "What are you going to wield, if not the Buster Sword?"

Zack blanked. "Uh... well... I didn't think that far ahead."

Angeal gave him a look. "Zack..."

Zack held up his hands defensively. "Gimi a break, I'm sure I can find something."

_Bubble BURST_

Both of them flinched as a sound and a burst of Mako erupted from the pools below. Zack blinked and looked down, sighting a sword handle sticking out of one of the shallow pools. He raised an eyebrow and flew down, hovering over the pool. He hesitated briefly, eyeing the handle.

The handle was large and white-green, with a gold orb at the bottom of the handle. He grabbed it and pulled out the blade, his eyes going wide as he did. The blade was buster style, large and sharp on one side with a heavy flat edge on the other. The sharp end was shiny white-steel. The flat end was green like Mako. A line, seemingly made of gold, connected the two parts.

"Woah...," whispered Zack.

" _A blade made of dreams of the lifestream, one final blessing of the planet_ ," Minerva's voice whispered into his mind.

Zack smiled faintly. "Thanks Goddess."

He looked up to Angeal, a determined look on his face. "We got a Calamity to beat, let's fly!"

With a flap of their wings, they took off, Buster Swords in hand, white feathers softly falling from the sky...


	5. Descent

Tifa Lockheart clung to her Father's fleshy body, watching the planet pass them by as they flew. She glanced back, sighting the corpses Father had injected his cells into flying after them under his direct power. She still didn't know what he wanted with them, but didn't want to question him.

Though, she couldn't help but feel a little jealous of the corpses and disappointment with herself. Not that they were dead and she was alive. But that they were flying and she could not. Father could fly as well, with his giant magnificent wings...

" _What troubles you my daughter_?"

Tifa winced. "That obvious?"

_"We are connected, you and I, you are a constant awareness in my mind."_

She felt a little bashful. "Well... its just... you can fly, but I can't."

" _Cant you?_ "

She gave a startled cry when he let go of her, she panicked, grabbing for his tentacle arm and latching on before she could fall. "Are you crazy?!"

_"Do you not trust me? I said I would make you strong, and if the strength of flight is what you desire, I shall give it to you, for am I not a caring, loving father?"_

Tifa hesitated briefly. "Y-yes..."

_"It will hurt for but a moment."_

Tifa gave a sharp cry as her Father racked behind her left shoulder with his claw and then pushed her off him. She screamed as she fell through the air towards the ocean below. She grew desperate and fearful, stretching out her arms as far as she could trying to grasp for something, anything.

_RIP_

She gave a scream of pain as something burst out of her left shoulder where Father had cut her. Suddenly, her descent slowed, she heard a sort of flapping sound behind her and turned her head. Her eyes went wide with surprise and disbelief, sighting a black and blood red feathery wing extending out of her shoulder.

" _The water approaches fast my daughter._ "

Tifa heard Father's warning and refocused. She took an educated guess, tensed her shoulder muscle, and thrust it forward. The wing flapped forward. She pulled it back, and the wing flapped back. She continued, stopping her descent not far from the ocean's surface and started flying after her father along the water's surface, feeling giddy beyond belief.

A wing. Father had given her a wing! She could fly! She gazed down, looking at her reflection on the water's surface, seeing herself fly. She studied herself curiously, she had changed without even noticing it. Her long brown hair had gone gray, almost silvery. Her eyes, a red catlike slits. With her wing, she almost looked like Sephiroth.

Like Sephiroth...

Tifa recoiled, horrified at the thought and nearly lost control of herself mid-flight. "I look like Sephiroth! _WHY_? Why do I look like him?!"

Father flew down close to her. " _Because, as the Firstborn, Jenova as you call her, was his Mother, I am your Father_."

Tifa frowned uneasily, she hadn't paid attention to it thus far, he was simply her Father, but..., "Your the same kind as Jenova?"

Tifa gave a startled cry as she felt anger radiate from him, seeming to connect into her own mind and pour into her. " _You dare to compared me to her? The Firstborn, the great devourer, cannibal, the beast of endless hunger? Foolish child, you know naught what you say. 'Jenova' as you call her was a feared pariah of our kind. It is an unspoken rule amongst our kind to leave well enough alone. We do not interact nor interfere intentionally with one another. If we accidentally come to the same world, then there is little choice but to consume or be consumed, however, we do not willingly seek eachother out. Jenova did. She of endless hunger thirsted to consume everything, even her kin. Looking through your memories, her heir, Sephiroth as you call him, was fortunate that she was so weakened by her prison and that he was born strong. She would have consumed him before she cared to look at him if she did not require his aid and did not fear his reprisal."_

Tifa listened intently to her Father's words, disturbed even more at the thought of what little she actually had known of Jenova. "I don't know which disturbs me more, Jenova herself, or that I'm capable of feeling pity for Sephiroth."

" _I would have accepted him into my family if he would have but cherished me as you did, but alas, he chose to remain alone, abandoned by his mother. He chose his fate, when this world is but an empty husk, he shall die alone and forgotten._ "

Tifa hesitated. "Father... are you going to destroy this world?"

" _Why would you care my daughter? What has this world ever given you but pain, loneliness, and despair? Should such a world be allowed to exist?_ "

Tifa bowed her head. "I... suppose your right. Aside from my life, and the chance to become your daughter... it gave me nothing..."

" _Fear not my daughter, as I said, I will give you everything you are missing from your life. What's more, I will let you soon partake in the feast_. _I will show you the hunger that you will cherish sating._ "

Tifa tilted her head. "The feast? The hunger?"

_"We near the feeding ground. I can smell it, smell the lifeblood of the planet."_

Tifa faced forward, noticing a shoreline in the distance, and beyond that, a forest with a green glow emanating from it. This place... it seemed familiar... Wait...

Mideel.

Tifa's face scrounged up in anger. This place. She remembered. This was the place where she had found and taken care of Cloud. She had helped him piece together his true memories, only for him to still spite her and say she had no right invading his mind. He had _hit_ her, hit her for just trying to help. It was where he had finally crushed her heart, and made her give up hope of him ever seeing her as more than a nuisance and aggravation.

The flew over the forest and landed next to a lake of Mako, the corpses however flew into the lake itself, sizzling and dissolving into it slowly, a black taint seeping from their bodies into the rest of the pool. Father skittered to the edge of the pool and leaned his face down, as if to drink...

"Father! Wait! You can't drink Mako it'll kill you!" she exclaimed fearfully.

Father paused briefly to chuckle before dipping his face into the Mako pool and drinking deep. She watched, awed, as his body seemed to pulsate with new energy and life, his fleshy skin rippling, the egg-like sack on his back growing slightly. She could feel his presence, feel his power grow with each gulp.

He pulled his head back, Mako leaking down his face onto his chest. " _Feed my daughter. Feed and grow powerfu_ l."

Tifa took a few hesitating steps forward and knelt down near the edge of the Mako lake. "But... won't it kill me to just drink it? SOLDIERS have a little bit injected into them, not drink mouthfuls."

" _Do you not trust me my daughter? When you became mine, I changed you to be strong. You are capable of feasting. **FEED**! Know the hunger, sate it, become powerful._ "

Tifa hesitated one final time before poking the Mako with a finger. She was surprised when it didn't burn her. She cupped a bit into her hand, lifting the green liquid to her mouth, before tipping her head back and pouring it in. She shivered, her back arching as a moan of pleasure escaped her mouth as the Mako rolled down her throat. She felt so invigorated, empowered, and that was just one handful! Was this what it was like to be SOLDIER? To be an Mako enhanced being?

She... she wanted _more_. She looked down at the Mako with a soft glow illuminating her eyes, eyeing it like a predator would its pray. She felt... she felt...

She felt the _hunger_.

Tifa gave one last thought of lingering care that she felt towards those she had once called friends and family, for the world itself, before she discarded them with disdain and gave in to the _hunger,_ beginning to feed on the lifeblood of the planet...

* * *

Morbunova gorged himself, delighting in the pure power he felt coursing through him. This planet... it was unlike any he had previously devoured, and yet, he knew it had already been weakened from its trials with the Firstborn. What would it have been like to feed upon it when it was ripe and unspoiled? It was a shame, truly, that the Firstborn had been the first one to stumble across this world instead of him. Then again, she had born the brunt of its retaliation and its children. Her loss, his gain.

A soft, wicked chuckle entered his mind. " _Oh? Is it my kinsman?_ "

Morbunova froze. That voice... impossible... the death call had been sent!

The voice, alluring, deceiving, and treacherous, spoke, " _I did nearly perish, so little of me remains outside of my son and the Puppet. That's why I called out, to lure you and any others here, a fake cry of death, so easy to draw you in like vultures._ "

Morbunova hissed in his mind. " _Firstborn..._ "

" _I've come to prefer Jenova_ , _it is a name that reeks of power and fear,_ " was her reply.

" _So I have come, as you thus intended, to what purpose?_ " demanded Morbunova.

" _A purpose you have already fulfilled,_ " mocked Jenova, " _What's left of my cells have already slipped into the lifeblood your child now drinks._ "

Morbunova tilted his head, curious. " _To what avail? What little of you remains is not even close to enough to try and usurp my daughter's body_."

There was more mocking laughter from Jenova. " _Usurp her body? Foolish kinsman. You understand nothing. I have fought this world, I have seen its power, seen its will. I have learned from it, I have planned, and I am ready to adapt to it. With your foolish aid, you have given me the first step to my ascension. All I need to do now is but wait._ "

" _Wait for what_?" demanded Morbunova.

" _Why, my son of course_ ," hissed Jenova, " _He is an arrogant, prideful child, foolishly focusing on the Puppet over and over again, but he has his uses, and I have one last use of him_. _I know him better than he knows himself, he will be drawn in uncontrollably, like a moth to a flame, and all I will need to do is but await my vessel."_

Morbunova grew confused. " _Your vessel? What do you mean?_ "

There one last fit of mocking laughter. _"You won't live to see what I intend. This world will destroy you utterly. Its power is unimaginable..."_

 _"It's blood is potent I suppose, but to destroy me?_ " countered Morbunova.

" _Foolish kinsman who understands so little, you have no idea what it's true power is. You think it's the lifeblood of the planet, when in truth, it is it's children. I was not defeated by the planet nor its goddess, no, I was beaten by its children, and soon, within a few years at most, I will share in that power_ ," said Jenova hungrily.

Before Morbunova could demand further answers, he picked up on a familiar sound. He looked up, sighting the airship his daughter's former companions used approaching...

* * *

Cloud looked over the side of the Highwind, into the blackening pool of Mako below, mortified. "The people of Edge... it's..."

"The _pest_ is using them to infect the lifestream with its cells," stated Sephiroth calmly, "It won't work nearly as well as he hopes, your little ancient in the lifestream will see to that. So long as the _pest_ is dealt with, I imagine his cells will be washed out before long."

Yuffie leaned off the side of the ship, her face a little green. "Ugh... I hate airships... but... hey... what are the space bug and Tifa doing?"

Cloud frowned, narrowing his eyes, and focusing. "They're..."

His eyes went wide with horror. "Tifa... she's actually..."

"Feeding off the lifeblood of the planet like a parasite," mused Sephiroth, "She is her Father's daughter."

Cloud glared at him. "Watch it Sephiroth."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "Come now Strife, even I never bothered with that."

"No, you were just going to absorb it all and become a god after meteor hit, right?" scoffed Cloud.

Sephiroth chuckled. "Perhaps."

Sephiroth drew his blade and narrowed his eyes. "Enough words, they longer they feed the stronger they get. Your friends are too weak to interfere. The _pest_ would kill them instantly, and I doubt Lockheart will show them mercy. If they come, I will not step in on their behalf."

Cloud frowned briefly before eyeing the others. "Stay back and don't fight unless you absolutely have to, and if you do join in, just support us with materia, don't get close to them."

With that, Cloud and Sephiroth leaped off the side of the airship and landed a ways away from Morbunova and Tifa, starting forward slowly, weapon's ready.

Morbunova's form had enlarged. It had gorged itself on Mako, it's egg-sack like appendix had grown several inches. It's scythe-like clawed tentacle arms had extended and strengthened. It's spider-like feet were now each larger and blade-like. It's torso was enlarged and more muscular, it's face-mask sleeker and larger, and the crystal out of the top of it's head was larger and more blood-red. It's presence was immense, far larger than it had been before. Fighting it would not be even close to as simple as it was last time. Next to it...

"Tifa!" Cloud called out.

Tifa slowly stood up, wiping a bit of green Mako from her lips. She turned to him and threw her hands up into the air, stretching. To his surprise and mute horror, from her left-shoulder, a black-blood red feathery wing extended out. Her eyes... her red slit cat like eyes were glowing heavily with Mako, on a level he had only ever seen in Sephiroth or himself through a mirror. As close as they were, he could feel her powerful presence scratching at his spine.

He stared at her, feeling lost. It hit him, seeing her like that, just how badly he had failed to uphold his promise to her, to protect her. He hadn't stopped Sephiroth from harming her. He had left her under Barret's care instead of his own, when the man wasn't even capable of defending himself with his gun arm lost. His mistake had allowed her to be infected and changed. She had been forced to murder Marlene, Denzel, and everyone in Edge. And looking at her now, with her eyes staring at him with hatred and anger, he realized Morbunova had turned her completely into it's own Sephiroth.

Cloud felt hollow and cold. "Tifa..."

"Hello Cloud," she purred, "I was hoping you'd come."

She looked to Morbunova. "May I kill him?"

" _You are strong enough,_ d _o with him as you will, the Firstborn's Heir is mine_ ," said Morbunova.

"Thank you Father," replied Tifa, her voice growing sickeningly sweet.

Hearing her want to kill him, hearing her call that thing her father, it was too much, it reminded him too much of Sephiroth and Jenova. "Tifa..."

He shook his head and refocused. "Tifa! Whatever it's done to you, fight it!"

She scowled at him. "The only thing Father has done to me is opened my eyes and made me strong."

She smiled. "You know, when you refused to promise to protect me and told me to protect myself all those years ago, I guess I finally took it to heart."

"I'm strong enough now to destroy you and Sephiroth with my own bare hands," she snarled.

"Refused to promise...?" echoed Cloud, "Tifa... I _MADE_ the promise, what are you talking about?!"

She tensed. "LIAR!"

"Memory manipulation," murmured Sephiroth, "Clever."

Cloud shot him an alarmed look before turning back to Tifa. Shit... was he suggesting that Morbunova had altered her memories? This... was going to be even worse than he thought. Even beating Morbunova wouldn't necessarily fix that.

Tifa cracked her knuckles and adopted her fighting stance, fists barred and close to her body. "I hope your ready Cloud."

"I'll deal with Tifa, do you think you can handle Morbunova?" asked Cloud.

When Sephiroth didn't respond, he glanced over at him. "Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth was saying nothing, his eyes firmly on Tifa, a curious look in his eyes, his eyes roaming and studying her raptly. "..."

"Sephiroth!" he shouted.

Sephiroth blinked a few times before refocusing. "Strife, deal with her quickly. Knock her out or kill her, I don't care which, but do not waste time. The _pest_ has gorged himself well, I won't be able to handle him for long."

Cloud winced at that, for Sephiroth to actually acknowledge he wouldn't be able to handle it... this was going to be bad. Sephiroth extended his wing and took off into the air, Morbunova taking off to pursue him.

Tifa and Cloud stood at a face-off, neither taking the first move. "I don't want to hurt you Tifa, please, stand down."

Tifa's lips curled. "Oh, but I do want to hurt you."

She burst forward fast, far to fast. Cloud could barely bring his blade up in time to block a punch toward's his rib cage. Her fist hit his blade and sent him staggering, reverberations ripping through his body. She rushed forward and leaped, swinging her left leg into his shoulder with enough force to send him flying at the impact. He hit the ground and rolled, leaping to his feet.

He gave a startled yelp to realize she was already on him, flying through the air carried by her wing. She smashed a fist into his face and knocked him to the ground, flying past and above into the air, mocking laughter escaping her lips. He ground his teeth and rose to his feet. He didn't know what to do. She was strong enough to actually fight him head on. He'd have to seriously fight her to win, but... he didn't want to risk maiming or killing her.

Tifa flew at him again, Cloud hesitated briefly before swinging at her, trying to aim for a shoulder wound to disable her. She flipped midair over his blade and swung a lag, smashing it into his side and sending him staggering. She landed on the ground next to him, smashing a quick jab into his left shoulder, another into his arm, and another into his side.

Cloud leaped back, arm throbbing painfully. Enough of this. He'd apologize later, but he had to end this. She charged him, and he charged her, releasing a Braver limit break and leaping into the air, bringing his blade down to aim for her arm. She didn't dodge, she suddenly went still, staring up at his oncoming blade with amusement on her face. She braced herself, held up her hands, both glowing with red energy, and caught his blade in her hands.

He stared, wide eye with astonishment. She had just caught his blade mid-limit break...

"What's the matter Cloud? Afraid?" she mocked.

Cloud narrowed his eyes and pulled down on the handle of his sword, splitting one of the fusion swords out and letting go of the main blade. He slashed downward, cutting down across a part of her arm, her stomach area, and a leg. Tifa hissed in pain and staggered back, letting go of his sword. Cloud caught the main blade and reunited it before rushing forward and swinging, slicing a deep wound into the side of her body.

Tifa screamed and staggered back, falling to a knee and clutching her side. "You bastard!"

He pointed his sword inches from her face. "That's enough Tifa!"

Tifa leaped back and flapped her wing at the same time, putting an immense distance between them quickly. She clenched her fists, a green glow of materia emanating from one of her gauntlets. He swore as a cure spell washed over her, mending her wounds a bit. Great, of course she'd have a cure. What else did she have on herself at the moment?

"Big Guard!" Tifa cried out, a green glow of materia coating her body before the ability coated her with Haste, Barrier, and Magic Barrier.

Oh great... she had one of their Enemy Skill materias.

"Bolt 3!" she roared.

Cloud threw himself to the side, dodging a bolt of lightning that rained from the sky. She was already moving as he did, her hasted body closing the distance and planting a foot into his stomach, kicking him back. He swung, trying to catch her after he kick, only for her to dance away. She was like a ghost, moving as fast as lightning, jabbing, punching, and kicking him while easily dodging his own attacks.

Cloud leaped back, separating his fusion swords into two. It was two easy for her to dodge one massive blade, two would be far harder, even while hasted. He sorely wished he had a Destruct materia on him to DeSpell her, the haste and barriers were going to be a pain. He landed on the ground and pushed back off, leaping in the air and spinning in a whirlwind of steel. Tifa rolled forward, dodging an attack as he came down. They both turned and rushed at eachother. Tifa closed the distance first and grabbed his hands as he tried to swing his swords. The struggled, grappling for a moment. Slowly, Cloud began to force his blades closer to her. While she was faster than him, even without the haste, he was still a bit stronger.

He gave a yelp as she suddenly fell backwards, yanking him along then bringing her legs up to kick his stomach and vault him overhead, letting go of his hands as she did. Cloud hit the ground and rolled, spring to his feet and...

_WHAM!_

He gave another yelp as Sephiroth was thrown into him, the both of them tumbling to the ground. "Get off me!"

Sephiroth's only response was to groan. Cloud looked him over briefly, his wing was mangled, he had smaller cuts all over, several magic burns, and one large and deep gash down his chest. In short, Sephiroth was doing a lot worse than he was.

Tifa gave a laugh and mocked, "Oh Cloud, look at that mess of limbs, I didn't know you swung that way."

Cloud grimaced at the thought, especially since she was implying that with Sephiroth of all people. "Get up."

Sephiroth shakily rose to his feet and cast a cure spell on himself before glaring at Cloud. "Are you incapable of finishing your fight, Puppet? I cannot keep this up forever."

Cloud eyed Morbunova as it slowly descended, the Calamity hardly looked scratched. "She's no pushover."

"Is that so? Or is it because your feelings are clouding your judgement?" shot back Sephiroth.

Cloud didn't respond to that. He was trying, but... he could admit he wasn't going all out...

"My point is made. We're switching, you entertain the _pest_ , I will deal with Lockheart," ordered Sephiroth.

Cloud frowned. "Sephiroth..."

"I'll, _try_ , not to kill her," spat Sephiroth, "But she will be subdued. If she's lacking limbs afterwards then she will have to make due without them."

Without waiting for another word, Sephiroth rushed at Tifa, and she rushed at him...

* * *

Sephiroth was livid. He had spent minutes alone fighting the Mako bloated _pest_ , taking heavy damage and losing a portion of his strength, and during all that time, it looked as if the Puppet had barely damaged Lockheart. Pathetic, even feeding off the Mako, she couldn't have actually become strong enough to match either of them, in strength or stratagem. He knew the Puppet and his friends, and during his last stay in the lifestream, he had devised many different ways to counter their strategies and tactics, including their annoying frequency of buffing themselves with status increasing or shielding effects.

"DeSpell," spat Sephiroth, destroying Tifa's Haste, Barrier, and Magic Barrier.

Tifa staggered, suddenly losing her additional speed and growing unbalanced. Sephiroth lunged, aiming Masamune to stab through her right shoulder, planning to disable her arm and wing at the same time. Tifa had no chance to dodge, he expected her to try anyway, preparing to adjust his aim to her movement. What she did do however took him completely by surprise. She thrust her right hand forward onto Masamune's tip and shoved the blade through her palm and out the other side, before closing her bloody fist around the blade and wrenching it away from it's intended target. She pulled on the sword as she did, using it to correct her balance, pull her along, and slammed her left fist into Sephiroth's face as hard as she could.

Sephiroth was sent staggering back, ripping Masamune out of Tifa's hand as he did, eliciting a pained scream from her. He massaged his heavily bruised face, blood leaking out of his mouth and nose, annoyed to realize he had been incorrect. The force of that blow she had dealt him, she was strong enough to actually damage him. The Mako she had fed on along with the _Pest's_ genetic alterations of her had put her on a level most SOLDIERs back in the day could have only dreamed of. She might even have become strong enough to go even with Genesis or Angeal back at their primes... impressive. But to defeat him? Not likely, even weakened as he was from fighting the _pest_ , she could not win, for he would show no mercy, unlike the Puppet. If she was weak enough to die from his attacks, well then, so be it.

"Hmph," murmured Sephiroth, readying his blade for another round.

Tifa leaped back, away from him, a green glow of materia coating her body. "White Wind!"

Sephiroth identified it as another Enemy Skill, and watched as the magic knitted some of the flesh around her hand back together. He narrowed his eyes, honing in on her gloves and then the armlet she had equipped, searching for a specific glow. There it was, a slight yellow hue on her armlet. That materia was a nuisance, it gave her to many options on how to fight. He had been on the receiving end of their group far to many times, he knew fully well what else they had in that materia. He was not interested in getting hit by a Shadow Flare, Pandora's Box, or Beta when she eventually would decide to bring out the heavy magic. It would be best to limit her options as quickly as possible.

He rushed at her, Masamune singing through the air. Tifa sidestepped and spun, bringing her leg to try to slam into his side. He freed one hand from Masamune and raised an arm to block, tanking the blow. He then latched onto her leg and swung her around and over head before throwing her to the ground. She rolled as she hit, barely dodging the touch of his blade as it came down. She sprang to her feet and took to the air, wing flapping, feathers dropping in her wake. Sephiroth extended his own wing, still slightly mangled, but had recovered enough to go airborne, and took off after her, Masamune at the ready.

Suddenly, she backflipped and dive bombed right towards him. He swung Masamune in an arc, aiming to slice her open, only for her wing to buffet the air infront of her, bringing her to a stop inches from his blade's slash. She spun, kicking the blade as it passed, forcing it away, and bringing her other foot around as she did to kick his face. He went staggering through the air, but not before grabbing her foot. He dragged her along, and then dove for the ground. She began to kick his hand with her other foot, trying to break free, to no avail.

He landed and then swung her overhead, trying to slam her down and stun her with all his might. Tifa held out her hands and dug them into the ground, stopping and converting her momentum. She freed and aimed a hand at his chest.

"Bolt 3!" she cried out.

Sephiroth braced himself and took the magic on directly, taking the damage but using the time to position and stab his blade forward, skewering her arm still connected to the ground. He pushed his blade all the way through up to the handle, stabbing his blade into the ground and pinning her down. She clenched her teeth, her face twisted in agony. He reached his hand forward and tore her armlet off, taking a quick look at it. He smirked, there went her Enemy Skill, Restore, and what looked to be MP Plus and a summon materia, he didn't know nor care which one. He took the armlet, let go of his sword, stood, turned and flung it into the Mako lake, a smirk on his face. She wouldn't be quickly healing off anymore damage she was dealt. While he knew the Mako and the _Pest's_ cells inside of her gave her increased natural healing, it would not matter much in this fight.

_SHING_

Sephiroth knew the sound of his own sword slicing through the air. He lurched forward, feeling a rush of air behind him. He turned, sighting Tifa having withdrawn his sword from her arm and trying to slash him with it.

He took a few steps back, eyeing her handle the blade with amusement, favoring her injured arm. "If I recall Lockheart, the last time you tried to use my blade against me, I took it back and cut you down with it. Shall I do so again?"

She narrowed her eyes, but rather than take the bait, she half turned and threw the sword as far as she could behind her before readying her fists. "You took my Materia, I took your sword. Let's see how well you do without it. Pretty sure I have the advantage when it comes to martial arts. I've been training my entire life since I was little!"

Sephiroth chuckled softly. "So have I."

Tifa glowered at him, red energy starting to rise off her body. They rushed at eachother, exchanging punches, jabs, and kicks rapidly. While he kept pace, he could admit, he hadn't fought against anyone at this power or skill in hand-to-hand in over a decade. Angeal had been the only one who had even come close. He found his heart starting to beat faster, his blood starting to churn and bubble hungrily at the appearance of a challenge. Up so close and personal, the way her body moved, each strike with deadly and beautiful precision. Shifting between aiming for pressure points or just trying to inflict as much pain as she possibly could, it was... invigorating to find someone besides the Puppet who could actually challenge him in any way. They lost themselves a whirlwind of limbs, silver hair, and wings, a deadly dance.

Unfortunately, Sephiroth's newfound bliss ended before he could enjoy it for long. The Puppet's pained cries were heard. Sephiroth leaped out of the battle and turned his head, sighting the Puppet plummeting towards the ground, a spray of blood following him down along with the _pest_. He scowled with irritation, useless puppet. He turned back, sighting Tifa rush at him. He flapped his wing and leaped over her, landing next to his blade and scooping it up. His blood was still pumping, his body roiling under the pressure and damage, he could feel his own carefully kept emotions desiring to be free. It had been a long time since he had last used a limit break of his own, it was time.

The high pitched whine and orange aura of a limit break coated him. He rushed forward at Tifa, his blade illuminated with a ghostly hue. The last time he had used this was against Zack back at the Nibelheim reactor. In a flurry of swordplay, he unleashed Octaslash. Slicing into Tifa's flesh over and over again. Tifa screamed and fell back at each cut, eight bloody red lines down her chest, along her arms, and on her legs. With his last slice, she flew into the air and then fell, landing on her back, blood seeping out of her body. He approached her and drove his blade into her chest, making her scream.

He lifted her up into the air on his blade. "Last word's Lockheart?"

She glared at him, her entire body trembling in pain. She ground her teeth and grabbed his blade. The moment she did, an ominous feeling entered his body. She pulled her body down along the blade and planted her feet on the ground. The moment she did, he saw double. He was back in Nibelheim's reactor, watching a seemingly unknown Shinra trooper calling on an unknown strength the best him...

Distracted by the vision, he gave a cry of surprise as she lifted him into the air, withdrawing his blade from her chest. She slammed him down into the ground with his blade, stunning him. She wrenched and ripped the blade from his hand, tossing it aside. A high pitched whine filled the air, a orange aura of a limit break en-coating Tifa. Sephiroth rose to his feet and grimly watched, knowing full well what was about to happen.

She burst forward, unleashing Beat Rush, pummeling him back and back one blow at a time. She somersaulted, grabbing his face, planting a foot on it, and bringing her other foot up to kick his chin back as she flipped. She landed and swept his legs out from under him with Waterkick. She grabbed him as he fell, pitching him over her shoulder and slamming him into the ground with a Meteodrive. She yanked him back up, and drove a fist into his chest as she jumped with a Dolphin Blow. She grabbed him as they rose, spun him overhead, and threw him to the ground, fire erupting from the impact of her Meteor Strike. But the worst was yet to come. She flew down at him, her fist glowing with immense blood red light and slammed her fist deep into his chest, unleashing an explosion of light, her Final Heaven part of her limit break. But it wasn't over, something new had been added...

As he staggered back from the Final Heaven, she rush forward and drove her fingers into his chest, each digit piercing through his skin as she whispered two words to let him know just where this new addition to her limit break repertoire had come from, "Father's Touch."

She pulled slowly and forcefully out, as if fighting against some great force. He felt a part of his life-force drain away, flowing through her fingertips, being absorbed into her body. Consuming the stolen vitality, her wounds partially mended. Sephiroth fell back and to a knee, stunned and momentarily incapacitated by the sudden loss of strength and energy. Tifa walked up to him and backhanded him as hard as she could, knocking him to the ground. She kicked his blade up into the air, grabbed it, held it two handed, and made to bring it down to plunge through his heart...

_BOOM!_

Before she could deliver the fatal blow, a barrage fireballs rushed across the battlefield. Tifa screamed and dropped his sword, raising her arms to block the barrage. Sephiroth's head turned, watching them also slam into the _pest_ and drive him from the Puppet's prone form. Each piece of magic was laced with extreme power, power that outclassed his own magic. But who was left alive who could possibly have that kind of power?

There was a rain of black feathers causing Sephiroth to look up as a figure descended from the sky and landed infront of him. "It is as I told you my old friend, _nothing shall forestall my return_."

Sephiroth stared, dumbfounded at the ghost from his past standing before him. "Genesis..."


	6. The Return

Sephiroth stared at Genesis Rhapsodos, his old red-headed friend, stunned for a moment, before his face turned into a scowl. "It would seem you enjoy disobeying my orders Genesis."

Genesis raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"I seem to recall telling you to _rot_ ," spat Sephiroth.

Genesis smirked. " _Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess_."

"Loveless, act one, you never change," said Sephiroth, shaking his head slowly.

"Who the hell is pretty boy here?" demanded Tifa.

Genesis turned, drew his rapier, and twirled it before him. " _Hero of the Dawn, Healer of Worlds_. I am Genesis Rhapsodos, former SOLDIER 1st Class, champion of the Goddess Minerva, and a WEAPON of the planet."

Sephiroth frowned intently. WEAPON? Genesis looked nothing like those towering monstrosities the planet had released during Meteorfall. Then again, perhaps becoming a humanoid WEAPON was how his degradation was cured. Stranger things had happened. Hmph, leave it to Genesis to actually be cured by the Goddess he believed in. Sephiroth stole a quick glance towards the Puppet, both him and the _pest_ had stopped fighting to study the new arrival.

Tifa frowned at him for a moment before slowly shaking her head. "Leave Genesis, unless you want to lose what little time you have left on this planet prematurely. Your not involved."

Sephiroth smiled cruelly, he had a lot of resentment towards his old friend, and it was long past due to see it sated. "Oh but he is Lockheart. Did you know he was there?"

Tifa grew confused. "There?"

"At Nibelhiem, ask him what his role was in what happened there," suggested Sephiroth.

Genesis scowled. "I have much to answer for Sephiroth, but is now really the time?"

"It's the perfect time, because if she doesn't kill you I swear I am going to gut you with a smile on my face after this," snarled Sephiroth.

Tifa narrowed her eyes. "What is he talking about pretty boy?"

Genesis sighed. "I suppose could could say I was the one who gave Sephiroth the starting push towards his descent into madness."

Tifa went still, she went very still, shock on her face. "You..."

She clenched her fists, rage emanating from her. "You son of a bitch!"

"Enjoy yourself Genesis, I have a _pest_ to deal with," said Sephiroth.

"Strife!" roared Sephiroth, taking to the air and rushing at Morbunova...

* * *

Cloud was reeling. This man before them... this Genesis... he had been the one who pushed Sephiroth towards his madness? Why didn't he remember him? If not from his own memories, then from the ones he had gotten from Zack? He was livid, furious, but, now was not the time.

Cloud separated his fusion swords and charged at the Calamity, driving both his blades into its chest up to their hilts. The Calamity screeched in pain before swatting him away with its tentacle arms. Sephiroth took advantage of the moment and swept his blade as he arrived, slicing into the Calamity's egg-like growth and releasing a spray of black blood and cells. Morbunova screeched again and spun, swinging its Scythe claws at Sephiroth, who flew up and over the attack. Cloud charged from behind while it was distracted and slashed at it, releasing another spray of black blood.

Back and forth they went, giving the Calamity no chance and no quarter. Where one was attacked, the other would strike, forcing the Calamity's attention away to defend itself. Cloud had to admit, fighting together like this with Sephiroth was... a strange but not unwelcome sensation. He found his anger and hatred with his nemesis slowly giving out. As much as he wanted to hold onto them, he was conflicted. If he were to hate Sephiroth, he would by default have to hate Tifa as well...

He shook his head and refocused, now was not the time. He'd sort out _that mess_ later.

_BOOM!_

Cloud staggered, growing unbalanced as a quake shook the land. He shifted his head, sighting a flying Genesis raining a stream of fireballs at Tifa as she sped along the ground evading them. He shook his head and leaped, joining his fusion swords and aiming right for the Calamity's face. He per-emptivly braced and readied himself. The Calamity reacted, slashing at him. Cloud swung, batting the attempt aside before splitting open the Calamity's face with his blade. It screeched in pain before batting him off it with a sway of its tentacle arms. Sephiroth chose that moment to strike, descending from above, his blade angled down. Cloud reflexively grimaced at the sight, remembering how Aerith had been killed in a similar fashion. Sephiroth drove the blade into the Calamity's egg-like growth on its back to the hilt before ripping upward, cutting it open and then leaping off.

The Calamity screamed in anguish, black blood and cells gushing out of it.

"FATHER!" came a scream.

Before Cloud knew what hit him, Tifa barreled into him, flooring him to the ground and knocking him away. She took off and slammed into Sephiroth as well, forcing him away in a barrage of blows before Genesis came after her. But time had been bought, and the Calamity was rushing away, rushing towards the pool of Mako.

Cloud swore. "Sephiroth! Its going to feed again!"

But he was wrong. Instead of feeding, to his shock, the Calamity literally tore its egg-like growth off its back, cut it completely open, and dumped gallons of black blood and cells into the Mako pool, into the lifestream itself. He was mortified at the sight, knowing full well the taint the lifestream was about to take on. Even Aerith would have a hard time suppressing that. The Calamity then gave a cackle of laughter, and dove into the blackening Mako pool.

Cloud made to follow before Sephiroth held out a hand to block him. "Hold Strife, neither of us can dive into that and come away alive or in control of our bodies."

Cloud ground his teeth, watching the Mako churn and swirl. The black taint began to condense, and out of the pool arose a changed Calamity. It was like a giant winged centipede now without its egg-like growth. It had grown more scythe like arms, its spider like feet had multiplied and grown elongated and sharp. Its wings had expanded in size and strength. The red crystal on its forehead had warped and extended, covering its back where the egg-like growth had been, like a protective shell. It's presence had increased again, a loud buzz in the back of his mind.

Morbunova hissed at them. " _The Firstborn's will dies this day, the planet will follow_."

Cloud had little time to ponder it's words. The Calamity was borderline twice as fast as it had been before, and that speed had already been well far faster than Cloud's. Sephiroth barely managed to dodge a slash of it's claw, Cloud was not as fortunate. A scythe-claw speared right through him, making him scream in agony. He swung his fusion sword up, partially cutting the claw, but rapidly losing the strength needed to free himself.

Cloud shivered, feeling his blood seep out of him, his grip on his blade loosening, his vision darkening...

_SHLING!_

Cloud lurched and fell through the air as the Calamity's claw was severed and fell out of his body. He became loosely aware of someone catching him and setting him down gently on the ground.

"Yeeesh Spikey, your really messed up this time, not as bad as the whole Mako poisoning time though," came a familiar voice.

Cloud blinked once, feeling a healing spell come over him, sighting his old friend kneeling over him. "Z...ack...?"

"Heya Spikey!" said Zack cheerfully.

Cloud cringed, clutching his stomach, blood still seeping out. He was taken aback by the sensation. This wasn't a dream, this wasn't the afterlife, he was still alive, in pain, and Zack Fair was kneeling over him, whole in body and alive.

He stared at him in shock. "Zack?! Your..."

There was an audible roar of the Calamity, cutting his words short as Zack shook his head, dropped a Restore materia in his hands, and hefted up a bizarre green/white buster sword. "Can't stay and chat Spikey. Stay here, rest and heal up for a bit, you've done enough, let us handle it for now."

With that, he watched as Zack took off, a white wing flapping behind him. Cloud reached out and grabbed a falling feather, feeling how real it was between his fingers...

* * *

Sephiroth had little time to acknowledge that Zackery Fair, of all people, had somehow just seemingly came back from the dead. He was putting everything he had in simply trying to stay alive. Never before had he been so utterly outclassed. The _pest_ had grown into a full blown _nuisance_. It's dip into the tainted Mako had empowered it to an inane degree. Was this but a taste of what it would have been like to have become a god after absorbing the lifestream? If the Black Materia wasn't lost into the planet itself, he'd have considered chasing that option again.

Left right up down, his blade sung back and forth, not attacking, but merely trying to parry aside each slash of the _nuisance's_ claws.

_SLICE_

Sephiroth hissed, missing a block, a red line slicing down his right arm.

_SLICE_

Another along his right side.

_SLICE SLICE SLICE_

Sephiroth flapped his bloody wing, trying to buy time and fall back, but the _nuisance_ was faster. Each attack came from multiple arms at once, impossible to defend against properly, injured and weakened as he was. He was no stranger to death, having died plenty of times up to this point, he knew how this was going to end, but he would have preferred Cloud killing him over this _nuisance_ , hell, anyone but the _nuisance_ would have been a better executioner. The _nuisance_ slashed upward, ripping open his chest, and then raised its bloody claw high into the air, bringing it down to try and decapitate him.

Sephiroth gave a startled cry as someone shoved him from behind and out of the way.

_CLANG!_

Sephiroth righted himself, casting a quick cure spell on himself before turning. Hmph, had Zackery finally decided to join the... fray...?

Sephiroth stared, dumbfounded, at the one who had saved his life. "Angeal..."

There, in the flesh, exactly as Sephiroth remembered him, baring the white wing he now had of course, was his old friend Angeal Hewely. In his hands, crossing 'blades' with the _nuisance_ , was the Buster Sword. For some reason, to him at least, the fact that Angeal was using the weapon was more surprising than the fact he had apparently been revived.

"What happened to wear, tear, and rust?" asked Sephiroth with amusement, forgetting where and who he was for a moment, lost in a memory.

"Zack knocked a bit of sense into me, little help here Sephiroth," said Angeal, his voice strained.

Sephiroth blinked and refocused. "Hmph."

He cast a second heal spell on himself and as Zack flew up to join them. "Hey Seph."

Sephiroth glared at him and pointed down towards Genesis and Tifa. "Take over for him and tell him to get up here."

Zack grinned and flapped his wing. "Oh man, watching the trio fight is gonna be good."

"Unless you desire Lockheart to kill you, I advise giving her your full attention Zackery," chided Sephiroth.

Zack pouted a little bit before rushing down to relieve Genesis. Sephiroth stared after him for a moment, feeling lost at the casual way Zackery had interacted with him, even if it had been only seconds, its impact had been directly felt. It had been over a decade since he had last experienced anything like it. He... couldn't help but desire more of it. This was too much, it was an overload he hadn't had since he had begun to read Hojo's research in the basement of the Shinra mansion all those years ago. Angeal, Zackery, Genesis, all of them being here, alive, and on the same side of a battlefield for once...

Sephiroth tensed and forcibly closed off the emotions. Accused madman or not, he was a man of control. He would figure out what to do with them later, for now, his _ally_ was facing off against the _nuisance_ alone. Sephiroth's eyes washed over the contest. Angeal was far to slow to consider outpacing the _nuisance_ , instead, he kept the Buster Sword tight to his body and twitched his blade to keep blocking oncoming attacks. He absorbed the attacks, keeping the _nuisance's_ attention focused. Which meant Sephiroth was clear to get in one single free blow uncontested and unaware by the _nuisance_.

Sephiroth flew down below the _nuisance_ and then up, stabbing into the _nuisance's_ underbelly and dragging along his blade as he flew, tearing open a large portion of the _nuisance's_ bottom side. He was rewarded with a screech of pain, a smug smile of satisfaction coating his face. At least, until the nuisance's underbelly started to rapidly mend itself. Sephiroth stared at it blankly. The regeneration was off the charts. Nothing short of outright killing it was going to work...

Sephiroth's mind was instantly whirling with thoughts and alarms. It hadn't occurred to him until that moment, but, the objective was to kill the enemy. Obvious of course, except for one slight problem. The enemy was his mother's kin, a fellow 'Calamity from the Sky'. Like his mother, killing this _nuisance_ was so much more than damaging the body or going for a 'lethal' blow, if there was even a vital spot to attack. So long as a single cell of the _nuisance_ remained, it would not truly die. They could disrupt it perhaps, but kill it? Even if they did so, it would taint the lifestream of the planet upon its actual death. This... was an unwinnable battle even if they did come out triumphant. Even in victory, the _nuisance_ could still kill the planet, not that he cared for it, but he'd rather _not_ be on the planet when it died. Not that he had much of a choice in the matter...

_BOOM!_

Genesis had arrived and was raining magic down upon the nuisance, driving it away from Angeal under his barrage. Sephiroth took the initiative to resume attacking. He could admit, he didn't have a plan to actually kill the _nuisance._ Short of dropping the Meteor from the Black Materia on it he didn't have a clue on how to actually truly kill a Calamity, let alone deal with the after effects of a tainted lifestream. For now, he'd continue to play his part and simply try to survive until something came up...

* * *

Cloud was miserable, sitting on the sidelines casting cure on himself every thirty seconds. Healing a giant stab wound that went all the way through his chest was not a simple task, nor did casting cure restore lost energy or the immense amount of lost blood. If he wasn't Mako enhanced, and Jenova tainted, he figured he'd have been dead awhile ago. At this point, he knew he was a liability if he actually stepped back into the battle. He doubted he could last against Morbunova for a second, ten seconds at most against Tifa. His fight, frustratingly enough, was over for the time being.

So he focused instead on watching the battle overhead. He vaguely knew of Angeal and Genesis, brief flickers in what little of Zack's memories remained. They had been SOLDIER 1st class, and... Sephiroth's friends? The thought of Sephiroth having friends was... bizarre to him. Then again, he hadn't always been hell bent on destroying the world and riding its corpse to the next. There was a time he had been a SOLDIER, perhaps... perhaps even a good man. He had been who Cloud had looked up to as a child after all.

He shook off the thought and resumed watching the three SOLDIER 1st classes assault the monstrous Calamity overhead. They had clearly identified it's weakness, it didn't handle multiple strong targets well. It kept trying to focus and kill one of them, only to be unbalanced and driven back by the other two. It was rare of Cloud to actually admit, he was a bit awed watching the three of them devastate the Calamity over and over again. Regardless of the fact that it was stronger than any one of them, their coordination, borderline teamwork, was extraordinary, they couldn't have fought alongside each other in over ten years yet those three outclassed how well him and AVALANCHE fought during Meteorfall. It was... inhuman...

The only problem was, the Calamity wasn't tiring, and injuries inflicted on it weren't sticking. It would only be a matter of time before the three 1st Classes were worn down and started taking injuries. It was honestly a miracle, even for Sephiroth, that he was still going at this point after so much fighting. It hadn't even been a day yet since the two of them had initially fought. It crushed Cloud to recognized how much things had quickly fallen apart in only a day's time. Sephiroth was back, there was a new Jenova, Edge was wiped out and everyone in it killed, Marlene and Denzel were dead, and Tifa...

His eyes flickered towards Zack and Tifa. He was relatively surprised to see Tifa _still_ going strong. She didn't even seem winded, in fact... she almost seemed stronger than before. Zack wasn't cutting loose, but, she was doing well, far to well, for someone who had gone a round with Cloud himself, Sephiroth, Genesis, and was now fighting Zack. He knew how driven and stubborn Tifa could get, but this was unnatural, and he wasn't sure it was just the Mako she had consumed either. Something else seemed to be empowering her...

Cloud frowned briefly, his eyes darting back and forth between the two fights before he wondered if she could somehow be drawing strength from the Calamity. It had grown stronger from its dip in the Mako, and if even a fraction of that passed onto Tifa... well... Zack was going to be in for a rough ride.

_Thud_

Cloud glanced back, sighting Yuffie landing near him, a cure materia in her hand. "You got your butt whopped!"

Cloud scowled, but did not respond, choosing to simply let her help heal him silently. Cid, Barret, and Nanaki joined them a minute later, each coming off the Highwind that was circling a safe distance away.

"Da fuck man, watchin these SOLDIER boy's go crazy like this is sometin' else," muttered Barret.

Cid puffed a bit of his cigarette. "Yep, fuck if I'm going to argue against it. Let someone else do the fighting for once, I'm getting to old for this shit."

Nanaki kept his eyes firmly on one battle or the other. "We need to intervene."

Cid swore. "Fuck man, why?"

"Because the Calamity and Tifa are simply going to out-sustain them," said Nanaki calmly.

Cid scowled. "Maybe, but what can we actually DO? None of us are Mako enhanced 'cept Cloud, and he's fucked up at the moment. If that Calamity thing so much as looks at any of us funny were dead. And Tifa? Fuck, she hits us once we'll probably be in a coma, she sure wont be pulling any punches, she didn't for those kids after all."

The group went intensely silent at the reminder that Tifa was full well trying to kill them all, and had murdered in cold blood, killed children even. It was harrowing to think of what she had done, even moreso to think of how she'd react if they could get her to pull through this. Cloud felt a pang of dismay and despair. Knowing she had killed Marlene and Denzel was going to destroy her...

"So, knocking Tifa out would be the best bet, but, would that bloke she's fighting even matter against that Calamity thing?" asked Cid.

Cloud frowned. "N... no. At this point no. Even if me and Zack were at full strength and helping the other three fight, it wouldn't be enough. That thing is on a whole other level at the moment. We've never fought an enemy this strong before. Not even Sephiroth when he was in that weird angel form at the end of Meteorfall was this strong. I'm... really not sure what we can do at this point. We'd need a miracle in order to..."

Before Cloud could even finish his sentence, a red blur passed overhead followed by an inhuman roar. They all looked up, shocked, to see Vincent Valantine, in the form of Chaos, barrel into the Calamity. Angeal, Sephiroth, and Genesis backed out of the fight, watching with surprise as Vincent-Chaos ripped into the creature with surprising power. He seemed even stronger than what Cloud remembered him to be.

At this point, Cloud wasn't surprised to see him alive. Zack was back, so why couldn't Vincent be as well? That he was merged with Chaos again was a bit surprising, but, helpful for the moment. Still... would it be enough? He had his doubts...

"I have a plan, and if your willing, I'd like your help," came a soft voice behind them.

They froze, they all froze. That voice... it was unmistakable...

Cloud turned, his breath leaving him as he sighted who stood there. "Aerith..."


	7. Holy

Aerith Gainsborough smiled faintly at her old friends, half pleased half impatient at their stunned silence. "Guys?"

Cloud was the first to recover, his eyes focusing. "What do you need us to do?"

She smiled mischievously at him. "Be my bodyguards."

That got a wry smile out of him.

She cleared her throat. "I'm going to channel Holy, once I do, I'm pretty sure that's going to get the Calamity and Tifa's attention. I'll need you to keep them away from me, it will take a few minutes at most."

Cid whistled. "Shit, Holy? Damn, Holy's going to waste that son of a bitch."

Aerith pursed her lips and shook her head. "No, it won't."

Nanaki frowned. "What is your intentions then?"

"To seal it, just as Jenova was two-thousand years ago," said Aerith.

Yuffie made a few frustrated arm thrusts. "It's not quite the same as getting rid of it, but putting it on ice is a close second I guess."

Aerith nodded and knelt on the ground, clasping her hands together. "I can't go father than here, what I intend to do has a range limit."

Cloud nodded and hefted his sword, his face growing sad. "We'll keep you safe, this time, we won't fail you."

Aerith smiled sadly. "I never held it against you, against any of you."

With that, she bowed her head and closed her eyes...

* * *

Tifa Lockheart slammed a fist into Zack Fair's sword arm's elbow, eliciting a pained yelp from him. "Yeeeesh! Go easy on me, this body's new!"

Tifa scowled at him, ducking under a counter-slash. "You should have either stayed dead or stayed out of the way!"

Tifa pushed up on the flat of Zack's sword and leaped up, smashing a fist into Zack's chin and sending him flying, landing on his back a ways away. She smirked at that, Cloud's friend was good, she could give him that, but not good enough. Speaking of Cloud, she shot a glance his way, making sure neither him or his friends were trying to interfere in either fight. The moment her eyes laid upon them, she was stunned, not by them, but by who was kneeling behind them. Aerith...

Tifa murmured with disbelief. "She's... alive..."

Her eyes narrowed as a flicker of white green energy began to rise from Aerith. "That energy..."

She knew that energy, but from where? Where had she seen that glow before? Wait... when Aerith had been killed by Sephiroth. The Materia that she had dropped, the Holy Materia, it had glowed that color...

Pure panic played across her face and she screamed. both physically and mentally at the same time, "FATHER! We have to kill her!"

Tifa bolted, not waiting, rising to take to the air, she gave a yelp as Zack threw himself at her, tackling her to the ground. "Oh no you don't!"

" _FATHER! We MUST kill her_!" Tifa screamed again mentally.

" _I am busy my daughter_ ," came a distracted reply.

She glanced up, sighting Father battling Chaos, Sephiroth, Genesis, and Angeal at the same time. " _Ignore them_!"

Father hissed in her mind with agitation. " _If you cannot kill one simple woman yourself than what worth are you as my child?_ "

She winced painfully, Father's words cutting deep into her. " _I... I won't fail you..._ "

She wished he would understand, wished him to know just how absolutely dangerous Aerith actually was. Half Ancient, caller of Holy, bringer of the Lifestream even while dead, healer of Geostigma... she was more dangerous to Father than all the rest of them combined, but he was too distracted to know her true threat. It was up to Tifa to kill her.

Tifa gave a roar and bucked Zack off of her. She flew into the air and dove right for Cloud and his friends. Cloud hefted his fusion sword and leaped at her, unbridled determination in his eyes, a look she hadn't seen in a long time. But he wasn't strong enough, not after taking the wound Father had given him. Tifa caught his blade between her palms and wrenched, ripping it out of his hands. She smashed a fist into his chest, latching on as he did, turning him, and throwing him at Zack who was flying at her. She watched as they hit and plummeted to the ground.

She dove, not even bothering to dodge as Barret unleashed a barrage of bullets her way. They stung, ripped into her, but she had no time to care for her wounds, the energy around Aerith was increasing.

She landed and grabbed Barret's gun arm, crushing it in her hands. "Give Marlene my regards."

Tifa smashed a hand into the side of his head, sending him sprawling away unconscious or dead, she didn't care which. Cid lunged at her, but Tifa caught his spear behind the shaft and wrenched it out of his hands. She spun it and then stabbed is straight through his leg, making him scream and fall to the ground. Nanaki charged her, unleashing a fire spell and leaping. She batted aside the spell and grabbed his paws, pulling him down upon her knee and driving it up into his underbelly as hard as she could. There was a loud satisfying crack before she tossed him aside and...

She gave a cry as something cut into her back. She staggered and turned, sighting Yuffie draw her bloody shuriken back. Tifa growled in rage before lashing out with a foot, smashing it into her rib-cage, cracking it, and sending her flying. She shook her head, trying to clear the throbbing pain from her mind. Maybe not dodging all those bullets had been a bad idea. But it didn't matter, there was no one else in her way.

Tifa rushed at Aerith and drew her fist back, ready to drive it forward and into the flower girl's skull...

_CLAMP_

Zack Fair's hand grabbed her wrist. "You wont lay a finger on her!"

Tifa turned her head and glared full force at him. "I won't let her kill my Father! I'll kill _ANYONE_ who stands in his way!"

"That thing isn't your dad!" Zack yelled at her.

Tifa slammed her head forward into his and drove her knee up into his groin. Zack wheezed and fell back and to a knee. Tifa planted her foot forward into his stomach and sent him sprawling. Once more she turned, ready to kill Aerith...

_STAB_

Tifa froze, shock on her face, she looked down, sighting one of Cloud's fusion swords stabbed clean through her stomach. "C-C-Cloud..."

She felt his sword shiver, she looked back, sighting his pained and tear stricken face. "I'm sorry Tifa..."

No... no... it... it wouldn't end... not like this... she... SHE... SHE WOULDN'T LET IT!

She gave a scream of raged and booted her foot back, slamming it into Cloud's stomach and sending him flying back. She reached around, grabbed the hilt of his sword, and wrenched it out of her with a scream before tossing it aside. She turned once more, and raised a fist, ready to bring it down.

"Sephiroth... won't get the satisfaction... of killing you this time... I will," hissed Tifa.

As she brought her fist down, Aerith opened her eyes, and at that moment, Tifa knew it was too late. They were glowing the same shade as the energy around her. Aerith reached up and caught her fist, easily, and stopped it in it's tracks.

Tifa's eyes bulged, fear rocketing down her spine. "No..."

Aerith spoke with a duel voice, one clearly hers, one another belonging to an unknown powerful female voice. "You have forgotten who you are my child, let us remind you."

Aerith stood and placed a hand on Tifa's head. Memories, years worth of memories, so familiar and yet not, flooded her mind. She stood there, stunned for a moment, before she fell to her knees and pitched to the side unconscious...

* * *

Aerith watched sadly as Tifa fell, it was to much for her mind to handle at the moment.

" _We have parted onto her all memories we could attain of her life from the lifestream_ ," Minerva's voice echoed in Aerith's mind," _We have fulfilled our end of the bargain and more, now, end it._ "

Aerith nodded and raised her hands into the sky and whispered one single word, filled with such power that it shook the foundations of the world itself, "Holy."

White and blue energy rushed out of Aerith's body and into the air. It flew towards the Calamity, forcing aside Vincent, Genesis and Angeal. Aerith had to put in her own personal focus to not allow it to harm Sephiroth, he had earned his respite from the planet's wrath for now. Holy closed the distance and slammed into the Calamity, trying to wrap around it.

The Calamity screeched and struggled, trying to escape Holy's grasp. Aerith shivered, with Holy touching it, trying to force its mind to submit, she held a brief access to it. In the span of a single moment she saw worlds burn and crumble. It left her stunned, shocked. How many... how many people? How many innocents had this thing consumed? How many lives had it ruined?!

Aerith was not one for anger, not one for rage, but she felt them at that moment, felt them to a degree that rivaled her resentment towards Hojo. This thing was an abomination. She doubled her efforts to contain and trap the Calamity, vowing that it would never see the light of day or harm another life again.

Everyone else landed near her. Zack stood at her side. Cloud and Angeal moved to aid the wounded. Genesis crossed his arms and stared up at the spectacle. Sephiroth merely stared at her, eyebrow raised, not seeming at all surprised to see her there.

"Can Holy kill it?" asked Sephiroth.

"No, the planet is to weakened to give it enough power to kill it," said a strained Aerith, "Were going to seal it instead."

Sephiroth frowned. "And leave it as a problem to handle generations from now? Foolish."

Aerith didn't take her eyes and focus off the Calamity. "There's nothing else can we do."

"I beg to differ," said Sephiroth.

Aerith briefly broke her focus and stared at him. "What do you have in mind?"

"If it's not dealt with, it will continue to be a _nuisance_ , if not now then later. It may also be able to affect Lockheart, and the tainted lifestream even if sealed away," said Sephiroth.

"I've pondered the situation, and the only way I can come up with to deal with the _nuisance_ is to remove it from the planet completely," continued Sephiroth.

He pointed at the tainted Mako lake. "Bleed the planet of it's sickened blood, feed it into the _nuisance_..."

He pointed straight up at the sun. "And send it into oblivion, burn it onto ash."

Aerith stared at him silently for a moment, working it over in her mind. "If I feed it the rest of the tainted lifestream, I don't know if Holy can hold it, and it certainly wont have enough power to send it into space."

Sephiroth didn't seem impressed. "Then we will handle the rest. Genesis, I believe now would be the time to show off."

Genesis gave a hint of an amused smile. " _The arrow has left the bow of the goddess_."

Aerith shivered as she felt Genesis begin to draw out his pure, raw magical power. She was... hesitant to try what Sephiroth was suggesting, but, if it worked, they would have all traces of Morbunova off the planet and sent to burn in the sun, save for what cells remained in Tifa. Her real concern though, was taking more lifestream out of the already weakened planet.

" _If it can save the rest of the lifestream from being tainted, do it, we will weather the pain_ ," ordered Minerva in her mind.

Aerith sucked in a breath and then slowly let it out before closing her eyes. She called out to the lifestream, and even tainted as it was, it answered. She delivered it through a small gap in Holy, feeding it into the Calamity. She shivered, her arms beginning to quake, as Morbunova's power grew. When she finished, when there was no blackened taint left in Mideel's Mako lake, she couldn't help but fall to a knee, sweet rolling down her head and dampening her clothes. She wouldn't be able to contain Morbunova for much longer, Holy was going to fail shortly.

"Brace yourself," ordered Genesis.

Aerith obliged, and immediately Genesis unleashed a massive burst of fire and light and fire, roaring at the top of his lungs, " _APOCOLYPSE_!"

He wasn't the only one acting, everyone started releasing their own magic attacks high into the air. The ground shook, the Mako lake itself began to churn, large tendrils of the lifestream shot up into the air and slammed into Holy along with the immense magical barrage, proving Minerva's own desperation to see the Calamity gone.

Their effort was staggering, launching the bound Calamity high into the sky. With one final burst of effort, she pushed with her own power, completely draining her reserves into Holy, and launched the Calamity out of the planet's orbit on a one way ticket to the sun.

Aerith collapsed to her knees, breathing heavily with exertion.

"Will Holy last long enough to guarantee the nuisance's arrival into the sun?" asked Sephiroth seriously.

Aerith closed her eyes. "I'll keep... you posted..."

No one went far, each group separating. AVALANCE and Zack all gathered around Aerith and the unconscious Tifa. Genesis and Angeal quietly spoke to one another off to the side. Sephiroth stood there farthest from the group, his arms crossed, staring up into space.

Aerith could feel Holy accelerating through space, pushed on by everyone's magic. Hours passed by as it continued to ramp up speed and distance, and the strain to merely keep track of Holy at the growing distance started to give her a headache. Finally, she felt it it the sun and dissipate.

She breathed a sigh of relief. "It's gone."

Everyone save for Sephiroth glanced at her with relief, the one-winged angel merely gave a, "Hmph."

Yuffie hesitated and then pointed a finger at Tifa. "What about her?"

Aerith sighed. "I'm... not sure on how much we can do for her. I have something planned, but, even then it wont fix everything."

Yuffie tilted her head. "Why not?"

"Because...," she began but trailed off, uncertain of if she should reveal just how bad the damage actually was.

"Give it to us straight yo," said Barret bitterly, "Can she even be helped?"

Aerith grew nervous at his tone. It was laced with so many emotions. Anger, hate, pity, sadness, regret. Even IF she could have undone everything Morbunova had done to Tifa, it wouldn't repair the damage of what had been done between them and her. She looked around, sighting AVALANCHE looking at her grimly and sadly. Genesis and Angeal kept passive faces, they didn't have any vested knowledge or interaction with Tifa. Zack shared the sadness as well. Sephiroth she couldn't get a read on, he simply watched with seeming indifference.

Aerith sighed, licked her lips, and began to speak, "Tifa's... well... we can help only up to a certain point. The Calamity... it... completely wrote over her memories, consuming and replacing them as it went with awful fake memories. I... its... really bad, it's the reason she tried to kill us so badly. What it made her think we'd done to her over her lifetime was awful. And beyond that, her previous life is gone from her mind, there's nothing left."

Cloud was stunned. "How... how could it even do that?"

Aerith shook her head. "The Calamities can effect people at the cellular level, that's... well... out of my knowledge range. What it did to her memories was one thing, what it did to her body was something else entirely. From what I could figure. it tapped into her knowledge of Project S and tried to remake the process used to alter Sephiroth when he was still a fetus."

Sephiroth cleared his throat. "Tried to?"

Aerith hesitated. "Tifa didn't have the complete knowledge or understanding about Project S, I don't think anyone but Hojo did. The Calamity I think took a few liberties in what it did to her. The fact that she could outright consume Mako like that... Sephiroth are you even capable of it? Do you feel _compelled_ to do so?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "I've never tried to ' _eat_ ' Mako before. I had planned to absorb the lifestream at one point, but, I never got the chance to put that plan to the test. Now that I think on it, I'm not even sure it would have worked. Not my brightest idea, but I wasn't particularly lucid back then. As for being compelled? No, I don't feel any particular desire to feed off the lifeblood of the planet. Ride it's corpse through the cosmos? Perhaps, but even that is just a fancy based of Mother's will."

"Why so worried?" asked Yuffie, "Eating Mako enhanced her just like it did the SOLDIERS, plain and simple."

Aerith bit her lips nervously. "No Yuffie, it didn't. I... don't think any of you understand how bad this actually is. When a SOLDIER is enhanced, the Mako binds to them, it's a part of them, and will return to the planet when they die. The Mako she and Morbunova ate, it won't ever return. What Tifa devoured, she did so completely. It was converted into pure physical, magical, and spiritual power. She... ate lifestream Yuffie, she ate souls of the planet's children floating in the lifestream."

The group went deathly silent, save for Sephiroth who chuckled and said, "So she's more Calamity then the science project I am."

Aerith hesitated before nodding. "From what I understand, Hojo was very specific in what he introduced into Lucrecia when she was pregnant. It wasn't pure Jenova cells, but altered ones. He picked and chose what to carry over from Jenova, and what to add from other sources. He focused on pure, raw power and potential rather than the abilities of the Calamity itself."

Genesis stepped forward, a concerned look on his face. "Can she make copies?"

Angeal stiffened in the background, Zack tensed, and Sephiroth frowned intently.

Aerith tilted her head. "Copies?"

"I'm... not proud of what I did when I was degrading, but, I could... well... genetically imprint myself onto other people. Angeal could do the same, but only ever did so to monsters. We turned people and monsters into copies of ourselves," explained Genesis.

Aerith felt sickened. "I... oh gosh... I don't know."

Sephiroth's voice was thin. "You accused us of not understanding the severity of the situation Lockheart represents, when in truth, you don't either. The only thing that had complete knowledge in that regard was the _nuisance_ itself."

The group went silent for a moment before Cloud spoke up, "There's something else I've been wondering..."

"What is it?" asked Aerith.

"Jenova and Morbunova, their presences were similar, yet distinctly different. Aside from the ability to change things at the cellular level and try to control them, do we know if they share any of the other same capabilities? Or do they have entirely different skill sets? There's far to much of an unknown when it comes to Jenova's race," said Cloud.

Aerith nodded grimly. "Agreed, and unfortunately, that may come back to bite us, not even counting Tifa."

Yuffie frowned. "Waja mean?"

"Minerva fears that more Calamities will be coming," said Aerith grimly.

Yuffie coughed and gagged. "Whaaaaaat!?"

Aerith nodded and then hesitated, turning to Sephiroth. "You have no love of the other Calamities..."

Sephiroth nodded. "Correct. When I felt its presence I... to be honest, felt compelled to confront and kill it. I'm uncertain as to where the urge exactly came from."

"What about Tifa?" demanded Cloud.

Sephiroth paused, thinking for a moment. "An interesting point to make Strife. No, I don't feel compelled to kill Tifa as I was for the _nuisance_. Perhaps she's different enough not to trigger whatever impulse it is."

Aerith felt a little relieved at that, and resumed, "What I want to say is, Sephiroth..."

"You desire my aid?" said Sephiroth smugly, a hint of amusement on his face.

Aerith pursed her lips. "Or at least for you to stay out of the way. I don't want us to have to fight. You won't survive if you challenge us, but I'm not foolish enough to think we'd come away unscathed in a fight if it came down to it, and as such I don't want to risk losing any of the planet's defenders, the planet won't be able to revive anyone again anytime soon. So..."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "If you won't help us, then at least leave Cloud and the rest of us alone."

Sephiroth met her gaze unflinching. "..."

Yuffie scowled. "Leave Mr. Scruffy Pants for later, what can you do to help Tifa?"

Aerith held Sephiroth's gaze for a few moments longer before turning. "I need your memories, all of your memories, about Tifa. Any interactions you had, no mater how small. All the memories you all can recall. I can gather them, organize them, and try to rebuild as much of her original life as I can. Coupled with what I was able to retrieve from the lifestream itself, I hope it can counteract Morbunova's false memories."

"Retrieved from the lifestream?" asked Cloud.

Aerith nodded. "When you and Tifa fell into the lifestream here during Meteorfall and she helped fix your memories, she left an imprint here, you both kind of did. I used that to try and re-construct as much of her pre-Meteorfall life and during Meteorfall life as I could. I also used memories from the recently departed of Edge to try and fill in some of her more recent life."

"I'm surprised they'd so willingly help their murderer," said Sephiroth with amusement.

Aerith pursed her lips again. "I didn't give them, or Minerva, a choice. I'm the Holy WEAPON of the planet, if they wanted my help, they had no choice but to give me what I wanted."

She smirked. "I might have also threatened during the trip here to use the power of Holy to try and escape the world with my friends and leave Minerva to rot if she didn't help."

Sephiroth scoffed. "And the Goddess of the planet didn't call that bluff?"

"Who said I was bluffing?" challenged Aerith angrily, "Tifa fought just as hard as the rest of AVALANCHE, she was a champion of the planet, if Minerva would turn her back on Tifa when she needed her the most, then she would be no goddess of mine."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, looking over Aerith for a moment. "This may not be the most appropriate time, but, there was a reason beyond trying to stop Holy that I killed you. Underneath that flower girl facade, you are far too willful and dangerous for your own good."

Aerith stared at him for a moment, unsure what to make of that statement. "Thanks...? I guess..."

"Aerith, when can we begin? Tifa won't stay unconscious forever," said Cloud.

Aerith nodded and stood up. "Let's get her onto the Highwind first, then, we'll begin..."


	8. Lost Heart

Hours.

It took hours of taking everyone's memories in and sorting them out and putting them together before Aerith was ready to implant them. During that time, she started to get worried. While they had Genesis ready to cast sleep if Tifa woke up, she hadn't. She _SHOULD_ have woken up by now at least once. The fact that she hadn't was unnerving. It had almost been a full eight hours since Morbunova had been sent into the sun. Yet, Tifa didn't react to sound or touch. Aerith was afraid, had she screwed up earlier by forcing all those memories into Tifa's head at once? She hoped she hadn't damaged her...

Aerith rubbed her eyes and looked around the Highwind's infirmary. Everyone that was at the battle was still gathered. While Aerith hoped and prayed she'd be able help Tifa, perhaps it was for the best that they all were still there to restrain her if things went south. The only one out of them all that she couldn't figure out was Sephiroth. She had expected him to either attack them or take off. He had done neither, he simply stood at the back of the room, watching with indifference. Or... rather... fake indifference. She had caught him studying Tifa intently several times when he thought no one was watching. He seemed fascinated with her, and it made Aerith a bit nervous. Drawing Sephiroth's specific attention was never a good thing. It had ended with her own death once, and Cloud's constant struggles with the One-Winged Angel.

"Yo, earth to 'Rith, you ready?" asked Barret.

Aerith blinked a few times before refocusing and nodding. "Yes. Cloud, Zack, I don't know how she will react to this. Could you please be ready to restrain her if need be?"

Zack and Cloud moved to stand on the opposing sides of Tifa's bed, each having a preemptive hand on her shoulder. Aerith took in a deep breath, let it out, tapped into what little of Holy's power she could feel right now, and placed a hand on Tifa's head. She forced her way into Tifa's memories and found them almost completely undisturbed. That confused Aerith. She thought Tifa would have tried acknowledging or confronting the memories. Yet it was as if she had taken one look at them and shied away... like she had...

"Did she really...?" muttered Aerith.

Cloud raised a worried eyebrow. "What?"

"I never took Tifa for a coward," murmured Aerith, "She's completely shut herself away in her head..."

"Meaning... what?" asked Cloud.

Aerith pursed her lips. "Meaning that were going to do a bit of prodding after I finish."

Aerith took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and focused. She began to shift and combine the memories she had taken from the others into the ones she had left earlier, doing her best to try and follow a timeline for them all. It was... a bit hectic. This was the first time she had ever really done something like this. It took her several more hours to finish. When she did, and Tifa _STILL_ didn't react, Aerith scowled at her.

"Not gonna make this easy for us are you Tifa?" chided Aerith.

She bit her lip, looking back and forth between Cloud and Barret. "Hmm... you two know her the best. One of you are going to need to go in."

Cloud and Barret exchanged glances. "Go in?"

"Into her head," explained Aerith.

Barret pointed a thumb at Cloud. "Let em' do it. She did it for him once, let em' return da favor."

Cloud shrugged. "Sure."

"Zack, pull up another bed," asked Aerith.

When he did, Aerith motioned to it. "Lay down Cloud."

He did so and waited.

Aerith pulled up a chair and sat at the end of the bed near their heads, placing a hand on each. "Close your eyes and relax Cloud."

He did so.

"I... don't really know what to expect. I have no clue what state of mind she's in right now. I... don't think you'll be in danger, but, be careful, for both of your sakes. I'm going to try and force her hand a bit, just... be there for her," said Aerith, her hands starting to glow with Holy's power...

* * *

Of all the things Cloud might have expected, it wasn't to suddenly find himself in Sector 7 of Midgar outside of the old 7th Heaven. He looked around briefly, finding it all eerily familiar. Familiar in that everything * _kind_ * of seemed the same as he remembered it. Eerie in that nothing had a solid edge to it. Things seemed blurry. People walking around... their faces were blank, lacking emotion or distinguishing features. It was like they all blurred together.

Cloud pondered it briefly for a moment. Perhaps this was some kind of memory? Or a reflection of one? Or some mental landscape in Tifa's head? He really didn't know. He sighed, shook his head, and walked up and into 7th Heaven. He was... shocked... to see Biggs, Jessie, and Wedge sitting at one table. It was... humbling and saddening to see the old AVALANCHE members seeming so cheerful. He looked around, suddenly noticing an oddity...

There was a _SECOND_ group of Biggs, Jessie, and Wedge. This group seemed angry and resentful, and were shooting dirty looks towards the bar, and the one who was standing behind it hurriedly preparing drinks. Tifa, in her Meteorfall clothes, in her pre-Calamity infected state, was scrambling. She seemed nervous and a little scared, something he had never seen her like behind the bar. She was always calm, cool, and collected.

"God damn that bitch is slow," muttered the angry Wedge.

Cloud shot him a look, frowning intently. Wedge had _NEVER_ taken that kind of tone or language with Tifa...

Tifa rushed over, holding up several drinks at once. "S-sorry for the wait, here's your drinks."

The three of them frowned at them and took them. Biggs however, had his hand trail along Tifa's arm, making her shiver, before he took the drink. His other hand reached down past her waist, giving her butt a brief squeeze before focusing on his drink and the others. Tifa seemed petrified for a moment before she scurried away, getting drinks for the other table.

Cloud was dumbfounded, and a bit mortified. For one, Biggs was not a pervert or a molester! He had never, not once, manhandled or touched Tifa like that. For two, why the hell hadn't Tifa punched his light's out?! Cloud found himself disturbed and recalled what Aerith had said. Tifa's entire memories had been replaced and with bad memories by the Calamity. So this was the truth of it then? It turned her friends against her in her mind and had them do such things to her?

Cloud clenched his fists in anger. He had only been here for minutes and her was already pissed. He dreaded thinking of what his ' _evil_ ' memory counterpart have done to Tifa. Speaking of Tifa...

She was suddenly acting differently. She walked with her normal air of confidence he knew from her over to the table with the cheerful AVALANCHE, dropping their drinks off and giving them a warm greeting.

"Thanks Teef, your drinks are the best!" said cheerful Jessie, downing her drink in one go.

Tifa brightened at the thanks before scowling. "Sucking up to the barmaid doesn't get you free drinks you know."

They shared a laugh before Tifa returned to the bar. Cloud watched as a peculiar thing happened. She started washing the bar, and looking over the room at the same time. When she looked at the angry AVALANCHE, the entire room distorted into a darker atmosphere, along with Tifa suddenly growing fearful and a bit meek. When her gaze turned to the cheerful AVALANCHE, everything seemed to brighten and Tifa grew confident and happy. However... each time she looked back and forth between them, Cloud could faintly hear the sound of cracking and splintering. He could see little breaks happening throughout the room.

When Tifa looked at neither group, when she looked at a reflection of herself in the spit-shinned bar, everything turned blurry and she grew confused, lost. The reflection in the bar... it was of the Calamity infected Tifa, and the Tifa at the bar just didn't seem to understand what she was seeing.

Cloud wasn't one for deep understandings or knowing the complexities of the mind. But, he had gone through something like this before, though, it was to a lesser degree. Tifa was trying to understand what was real and what wasn't, but... she didn't seem able to do so, and it was a damaging experience to not be able to. He knew from personal experience how bad it was to not have a firm grip on reality. She had two entire lifetimes worth of memories conflicting in her head, and he'd do whatever it took to help her find out that the one with them as her friends was the right one.

"Tifa!" Cloud called out.

Tifa blinked a few times, looking up to see him. "Cloud...?"

The two groups of the old AVALANCHE members faded away. Tifa walked around the bar and up to him, uncertainty on her face.

She looked him over. "It's... good to see you Cloud. I haven't seen you in years. Look at those muscles! And those clothes! I take it you got into SOLDIER huh?"

Cloud blinked a few times and looked himself over, he was in his Meteorfall clothes. "Umm... not really...?"

She frowned. "Huh?"

This was off... they hadn't first met in the bar like this after Nibelheim, she had never even asked him if he had made SOLDIER. He frowned briefly, wondering if he should play along with the memory or not. No, no he didn't think he should. This memory never happened, he needed to get her away from it and towards the truth.

"Tifa... what do you remember of Nibelheim?" he asked.

Tifa froze for a moment, before growing furious. "I remember that _YOU_ weren't there! You refused the promise! When I needed you the most you weren't there!"

"I made the promise Tifa! I said I would protect you and I _WAS_ there! I... I was one of the Shinra Troopers with my helmet on, I was to embarrassed to show my face after not making SOLDIER, but, when Sephiroth cut you, I came and drove him away," said Cloud.

A hazy look filled Tifa's eyes. "Cloud... I... never would have cared... if you had made SOLDIER or not..."

Suddenly, the scene changed. He was back in Nibelheim, and before him, strangely enough, were two water towers, with a younger Tifa and a younger Cloud on each. Cloud watched as the scene progressed. One Cloud made the promise, one Cloud spit on Tifa and left. The scenes merged into one, and an older Tifa appeared in her normal black leather clothes. She looked at him passively and crossed her arms, waiting.

"I made the promise Tifa, I swear it," said Cloud.

"If that's true, then why weren't you there?" she demanded.

"I was there at Nibelheim! I told you I..." he began.

"When my father was murdered, when the town burned, when I chased Sephiroth down and tried to avenge them, when I was cut down, why weren't you there?" she demanded bitterly.

To that, Cloud could offer nothing, in truth, he was dumbfounded. While he had often blamed himself for what had happened, Tifa had never done so... she... had never blamed him for what happened or accused him of anything. He stood there, shock on his face. Was this... was this something she really meant? A resentment she hid deep down? Or was this something brought on by Morbunova's memories? For the moment, Cloud felt more lost than he thought Tifa was.

"I... I'm... sorry Tifa...," was all he could whisper.

The scene changed again, and continued to change rapidly. Duel memories, parallel lives started flashing by his eyes, depicting two similar, yet frighteningly different scenes each time. Cloud struggled to keep up with what was flashing infront of him. It was like he was a ghost watching from above at two seperate memories. One real, one a sickening reflection of it:

Barret praising Tifa for her effort at Reactor 5 and telling her not to blame herself for Cloud falling / Barret hitting Tifa upside the head with his gun arm, bruising and bleeding her, yelling at her for not being better and letting Cloud fall.

Him, Barret, and Tifa agreeing to go after Aerith into the depths of Shinra and to fight on for the others / Him and Barret accusing Tifa for being responsible for the destruction of Sector 7 and everyone in it.

Him, Tifa, and Barret walking to Kalm while Aerith and Nanaki took a separate route / Him, Barret, Aerith, and Nanaki going together and leaving Tifa to 'try' and not get herself killed alone on the way to Kalm.

The entire group laughing to one another as they tried to catch Chocobos to cross the swamp and avoid the Midgar Zolom / Tifa struggling alone to get a chocobo, and nearly getting killed by the Zolom, only for Cloud to be forced to save her and get critically injured, resulting in them falling behind Sephiroth's trail and her getting blamed.

Them successfully defending Fort Condor for the first time / All of them save for Tifa successfully defended their sides, only for a few troopers to get by Tifa and shoot at the Condor, hurting it and drawing the ire of the Fort's inhabitants, blaming her for her weakness.

Them all sneaking into Junon and into the boat, safely getting across barring the encounter with Jenova / Tifa getting caught, brutally interrogated, forcing them to rescue her and have to run and hide for the entire boat-ride, once again blaming her for the situation despite what she had been through.

Cloud shivered and fell to a knee, blood starting to ooze out of his nose. "T-tifa... s-slow down..."

The memories were overwhelming, one right after another, forced onto his consciousness. It was physically and mentally painful to go through these, along with enraging. The Calamity had crafted these memories well, not only had it constantly turned them against her, it had also weakened Tifa in her own mind, making her seem meeker and more prone to failure in her memories, and thus far easier to manipulate and less likely to resist it's words or influence...

More memories hit him suddenly, no, they had never stopped, even while he was trying to pull away to think...

In Rocket Town, they try and escape Shinra, only to get shot down despite Cid's piloting / In a rare display of confidence, Tifa tries to fly the Tiny-Bronco while Cid is getting on-board, they still get shot down, but she's blamed and rebuked for her attempt.

Yuffie steals their materia mid combat and flees to Wutai / Tifa is supposed to be standing watch, falls asleep, and thus allows Yuffie to steal their materia, and is blamed.

Yuffie is caught by Don Corneo, and they rescue her / Tifa is instead the one caught, and they're forced to rescue her, once again citing how useless she is.

He and Tifa go on a wonderful, if but awkward date at the Gold Saucer / Tifa approaches him for a date, is rejected, and he snubs her as he left with Aeris instead, leaving her heartbroken and miserable.

Cait Sith steals the keystone during their date / Tifa is left to guard the keystone, but it gets stolen, and she is viciously blamed, even gentle Aerith seemed angry with her for losing it.

Cloud shook and clutched his head. "T-tifa! Stop! Wait! Your not even letting me help you figure out whats real!"

" _It's doesn't matter whats real or not_ ," a tormented whisper resonated through the air, " _What does a monster deserve of reality_?

Before Cloud could try to argue, the memories assaulted him again...

Cloud is devastated by Aerith's death, Tifa tries to comfort him as best as she can / Cloud is devastated by Aerith's death, Tifa tries to comfort him, but is knocked aside and accused of trying to use Aerith's death to move in on Cloud.

They struggled and made their way slowly to the northern crater chasing Sephiroth, doing their best to look after one another, even on the freezing climb up Gaia's Cliffs / They speed along as fast as they can in hot pursuit, Tifa continually falls behind, freezing and shivering, forcing them to slow down. The climb up the cliffs is a slow, agonizing process as they are forced to accommodate Tifa, calling her a burden.

Sephiroth breaks the illusion Cloud had of being a SOLDIER 1st Class / Sephiroth breaks the illusion Cloud had of being a SOLDIER 1st Class, but before Cloud breaks and hands Sephiroth the black materia, he bitterly accuses Tifa of hiding the truth from him.

Tifa finds and looks after Cloud in Mideel, the others reluctantly leave her there, the doctors are kind and praise her for her dedication to looking after him / Tifa finds and looks after Cloud in Mideel, the others are glad to be rid of her, the doctors are crude and cruel, and call her lecherous in the way she looks at and after Cloud.

After they fall into the lifestream, Tifa helps Cloud to recover his memories and find his true self and they continue their journey to fight Sephiroth / After they fall into the lifestream, Tifa helps Cloud to recover his memories and find his true self, but rather than be appreciative or admitting to his own failings, he yells at Tifa for stealing Zack's legacy from him, he hits her in a rage...

Cloud went rigged and tensed. No. Enough was enough. He would bear this _NO LONGER_! He would never have raised a hand to Tifa like that! He wasn't sure he could ever get that image out of his mind. He was sick and tired of seeing this... this... this garbage! These lies that the Calamity had put in Tifa's mind!

"TIFA!" yelled Cloud, "That's ENOUGH! _**STOP**_!"

Everything shattered around him into thousands of pieces. Cloud found himself falling into a black abyss, he landed with a grunt and picked himself up. There was nothing around him, nothing by blackness. He frowned, catching sight of something in the distance. He ran after it, but it almost seemed like it was running away from him. No wait... it... it was Tifa!

"Tifa! Come back!" he called out, "I would never hurt you, please let me help!"

Suddenly he was back at the confrontation between them and Tifa and Morbunova. He saw himself run Tifa through from behind, desperately trying to save Aerith's life.

Tifa, with blood running down her clothes, looked straight at him and screamed. " _LIAR_!"

Cloud recoiled at the memory as it shattered and once again he found himself in a black abyss. He fell to his knees, grimacing...

"But, I suppose I can't blame you," a voice spoke.

He looked up to see Tifa as he remembered her before the Calamity infected her. "Tifa..."

"After all, you loved her, not me," said Tifa bitterly, "Despite how much I gave up for you in both lines of memories."

Cloud rose to his feet and walked over, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Tifa, those feelings I had for Aerith... they were Zack's... and... I'm sorry. I didn't want hurt you..."

Tifa met his gaze and spoke quietly. "I know. I saw the tears. In what few memories I know to be true and real, I saw that you didn't want to hurt me."

She broke his grip and turned, walking a few steps. "I... don't know who I am anymore. Am I your friend? Or am I your burden?"

"Your my friend! All of us, your a friend to all of us!" said Cloud.

She shook her head, her voice cracking, "No... I... can't accept it."

"Why?" demanded Cloud.

"Because... if those memories are the real ones... then... I... I killed an innocent little girl, Marlene, who felt nothing but love towards me. If those memories are the real ones, then... I... I killed our adopted son... I killed Denzel... I killed everyone in Edge... I burned it to the ground... I... I'm no better than Sephiroth. He murdered strangers when he went insane, I murdered everyone who cared about me, who I cared about, I'm even worse than him! I'm a monster!" sobbed Tifa.

"No, no your not!" he argued, "The Calamity destroyed your memories and remade them, it lied to you, tricked you!"

She bowed her head. "It doesn't matter either way..."

"Why not?!" he exclaimed, "Tifa... we don't blame you... it was the Calamity's fault..."

Suddenly, the scene changed. He saw a Calamity tainted Tifa in the burning town of Edge, holding Denzel's phone with one hand, the other gripping the top of his head, one of her feet pinning his back to the ground. Cloud gagged, cried out, and flinched away as Tifa tore Denzel's head off in a brutal spray of blood.

She held up Denzel's head and turned to him. "Then why do I see the accusation in your eyes?"

Cloud choked, struggling to speak. "T-tifa..."

The scene faded, and they were both alone, staring at each-other in the black abyss of her mind, and she was back to her normal brown hair and eyes. "Whether one line of memories is true or the other, it doesn't matter. I'm still a monster..."

He shook his head. "Tifa... your... your not a monster..."

Suddenly Tifa's hair went silver. Her eyes went catlike and red, she waved her right arm to the side and a wing exploded out of her shoulder in a spray of blood, feathers, and flesh, the background changed to Edge burning, to Marlene and Denzel's corpses at her feet, and the rest of the town's inhabitants lined up dead on the ground for Morbunova to infect. "THEN WHAT DO YOU CALL ME?"

Cloud took a step back, stunned by the sudden action, stunned by the scene, stunned by agony and venom in her voice and eyes. In that moment, when he had backed away, he knew he had made a mistake in the action. The sadness and resignation that filled her eyes was crippling. He cursed himself, she had been looking to him for comfort, for acceptance, for ANYTHING; instead, he had backed away, in that moment he had abandoned her.

"T-tifa wait!" he exclaimed.

"Get out, leave me to rot," she said bitterly.

He rushed forward and grabbed her shoulder. "Tifa!"

"GET OUT!" she screamed.

* * *

Cloud screamed and clutched his head, blood gushing out of his nose as he rolled off the bed and hit the floor of the infirmary. "TIFA _**NO**_!"

"Woah! Easy their Spikey!" came Zack's voice.

Cloud raised a hand in the air, gave a cry of fury, and slammed it down on the floor. "DAMMIT!"

Silence filled the infirmary as Cloud laid there on the ground, seething to himself, loathing himself. Finally, he pushed himself up to his feet and turned. Tifa still laid on the bed, not moving, not reacting. He had failed her... no... he refused!

Cloud looked to Aerith and spoke hoarsely, "Send me back in, I have to try again..."

Aerith gave him a pained, tired look and shook her head. "I don't have the strength right now to force her to confront her memories or to let you back in. She shoved and locked us out. At bare minimum, I need a night's rest and a good meal. We all do."

Cloud bowed his head and sighed with frustration. "..."

Zack put a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be alright Spikey. You'll try again tomorrow, and next time, you'll drag her out of her head kicking and screaming if you have to."

Cloud sat down on the bed with a heavy sigh. "I... I hope so... I just..."

"That bad huh?" asked Zack.

Cloud slowly shook his head. "Tifa... thinks she's a monster."

"An apt description if I'm the standard to go by," mused Sephiroth.

Cloud glared at him. "Watch it Sephiroth!"

Sephiroth merely held his gaze, an amused look on his face.

Aerith cleared her throat. "Enough. For now, lets all get some rest. We'll alternate and switch through the night on who will watch Tifa. Okay? No arguing and no fighting."

Cloud slowly nodded his head, sighed once more, and left the room to try and find something to eat and then a place to rest his tired mind and body...

* * *

Sephiroth could admit, he was amused. Through his connection to Cloud, he had watched everything that had happened in Lockheart's head. He was a bumbling failure and a puppet in need of a master to pull his strings. He had botched that attempt so badly it was cringe worthy. He went to Lockheart, trying to be her friend and help her through it, barely getting a word out. How little he understood. She did not need a friend. No, what she needed was to be grounded on cold, hard, reality.

He might have been content to let her rot within her own mind, but... Lockheart interested him, for a few reasons that he could admit.

The first reason was that she was a challenge in battle. When she had engaged him in hand to hand like that, fearlessly matching him, it had been a thrill he hadn't experienced in a long time. Her final barrage of limit breaks at the end, oh, it was blissful, even if he had been on the receiving end of it. Fighting the Puppet had become a force of habit, while enjoyable, it wasn't the same. Lockheart's potential was enormous. She had so little experience with her newfound power. How powerful might she one day become if allowed to grow, if she was properly trained? Might she become a true, _worthy_ rival perhaps? While he doubted he could ever get her to pick up a sword, he'd settle for being able to fight hand to hand against a true equal. It was something he had always lacked back when he was a SOLDIER 1st Class, a true, _worthy_ rival to keep up with and push him.

The second, amusing, reason, was that she was a continual source of despair for the Puppet, surprisingly even moreso than he himself. From the moment Cloud had heard his adopted son die on the phone, she had hurt and maimed Cloud again and again. Even now, by rejecting his help, she was inflicting pain and despair on the Puppet. He might have resented her at first for taking his gift away from Cloud and giving it herself, but, he could admit he approved of it now. He was more than willing to let her be the source of despair in Cloud's life, especially if he could augment that despair on the side, without even having to take any direct action against the Puppet himself.

He was no fool. He knew he could no longer take direct action against the Puppet without being destroyed. The Ancient was powerful, on her own she now might even be enough to match him. She had been reborn as a WEAPON, and not only that, he could feel the truth in what she had become. She had taken Holy into herself, merging with it. That alone demanded his respect and wariness, without even considering what _else_ she might now be capable of. He would not cross her unless he absolutely had to.

Returning to his previous train of thought, there was a... third reason he was interested in Lockheart, though he was loath to admit or acknowledge it. She was... similar to him. All of his life, there had been no one else like him on the entire planet. Now that there was... he was curious about her. Curious to see what she would become, and who she would choose to be. So far, she had mirrored his life to an eerie degree. It was a sense of... kinship that he was unfamiliar with. To no longer truly be alone was...

Sephiroth shook his head and banished the thought. Enough. He waited patiently until Genesis finished his shift watching Lockheart and took over, He was moderately surprised they trusted him enough to leave him alone in the same room as her. Setting up a mental ward to alert him incase anyone started coming his way, he walked over to Lockheart.

He hesitated briefly before reaching down and brushing a strand of silvery hair off her pale face. Looking at it from the outside, perhaps he could understand why the Silver Elite had admired his hair and looks back in the day, down to even knowing what shampoo he had used, ridiculous as it was. He was still immensely curious, and perhaps still furious, as to how they had found that out. He shook his head and refocused on her. She was... alluring, was that what the sensation was? His hand trailed down her shoulder, touching her wing. He gently plucked a feather and rubbed it between his fingers before letting it fall.

He narrowed his eyes and put a hand on her head. "You will awaken Lockheart. I will not permit yourself to drown in your own pathetic self-loathing, you will awaken and show me your worth..."

* * *

Sephiroth looked around, finding himself walking into Nibelheim for the first time with Zackery Fair and three Shinra troopers on his heels. He could feel Tifa's presence, watching them curiously. Sephiroth smirked, looking at the unmarred town. He was not going to play along with whatever memory game Lockheart was playing. No, he was going to break the game, destroy the rules, and immensely enjoy himself while he was at it.

Sephiroth turned, drew Masamune, and decapitated the memory Zackery in one fluid motion before impaling the Shinra troopers. He only briefly acknowledged that one of them was Cloud Strife in his mind before he turned and started setting fire to Nibelheim once again. He searched and searched, slaughtering everyone in his path, before he found him. He smiled cruelly at Tifa's father before gutting him with an honest smile on his face.

"Pappa!" came a scream.

Sephiroth intentionally let go of his sword and walked away. Waiting for it...

The scene changed, and his was walking up the reactor steps towards the core, the door labeled JENOVA. There was a pattering of feet behind him. He turned, sighting a younger Tifa rushing at him, his own sword in her hand. She made to strike him, but he grabbed her hands and took his blade from her. With one fluid slash, he sliced down, sending her falling down the steps. This time though, he did not turn to enter his mother's chambers. He watched Tifa fall, hitting each step, her body bouncing along until she came to a rest. She raised her head weakly one final time, still managing the defiance to glare hatefully at him one last time before her head fell back. He smiled softly at the sight, such defiance...

"If there's one consistency between both memory lines, it's that you are still a monster," said a voice.

The reactor faded away, leaving him in a black abyss. Sephiroth turned to see Lockheart staring at him in her pre-changed form. He blinked a few times, noticing something peculiar in her gaze. The defiance, the anger, the resentment towards him, where was it? He had just enjoyed being reminded of it, where had it gone? What she was looking at him like now... it was... cold indifference? No one had ever looked at him like that before. There wasn't anything in the gaze, no judgement, no awe, no fear, nothing, just acknowledgement. How... fascinating...

He frowned briefly and looked her over. "Why do you hide in that pitiful form?"

She bristled. "Because it's who I..."

She bowed her head. "It's who I wish I could be..."

Sephiroth crossed his arms. "Is it?"

She glared at him, her form changing to her current one. "Yes! Do you think I want to be a monster?"

She bowed her head again, her wing dipping dejectedly to the ground. "But it doesn't matter what I want, I am a monster..."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "Your point being what exactly?"

Tifa raised her head to look at him with confusion. "...?"

"Show it to me," said Sephiroth, "Show me what makes you a monster."

The world changed, and Edge burned; He watched her, fascinated, as she butchered the town and set it aflame; The way her body moved, her fists lashed out, her legs swung. She was graceful and deadly, beauty in the form on a silver haired red eyed grim reaper. "Remarkable..."

A second Tifa appeared and stood next to him, watching grimly. "You think it's remarkable? I guess I really am a monster worse than you are. I killed those I cared for, those who once cared for me."

She bowed her head. "But... what right do I even have to weigh whose worse than who? I'd be a hypocrite to judge."

Ah, so that's it. That's where the cold indifference came from. She didn't differentiate herself from him and his actions at all. In fact, she probably used what he had done as her own base line to judge herself. How... amusing.

"I don't know who or what I am anymore," she said bitterly, "Which life is real? Which me is real?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "Does it honestly matter at this point?"

She looked at him, confused. "Huh?"

He turned to face her. "Between what you said to the Puppet and what you now say to me, your going in circles. Does either life matter? Who I see standing before me is not the Tifa Lockheart who lived through either of those lives. The one who destroyed Edge is neither of them. You as you are came into existence at that moment. Does either of those lives make a difference at this point? Which one was real, which one was fake... does it change anything?"

Tifa seemed to ponder it. "..."

The scene of Edge burning slowly faded away. "No... I guess it doesn't... but... I still want to know."

She turned to him. "Cloud... the promise denier... Cloud... my dear friend. I don't know which one is the truth, I can't trust what he says. But you... you... Sephiroth... you were the same in both memory lines. You never changed, you always treated me the same. You... I can trust to be who you really are. So tell me... which life was the lie?"

Sephiroth answered bluntly, "The life of weakness you lived as your friend's hateful burden."

Tifa seemed crushed. "So then... they were my friends... and... I really did do it... I... murdered Marlene and Denzel... I killed two innocent children who loved me... I tried to help consume and destroy the planet on a lie..."

Sephiroth grew amused. "I believe the phrase is 'join the club'?"

Tifa glanced up at him, startled. "Huh?"

Sephiroth threw back his head and laughed before mocking himself, "In my veins courses the blood of the Ancients. I am one of the rightful heirs to this planet! I am the chosen one, I have been chosen to rule this planet!"

He brought up a hand to block his laughter. "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Tifa stared at him, shocked. "You... knew? You _KNEW_ it wasn't true?"

Sephiroth scoffed. "During the Nibelheim Incident itself? No, I was delusional I suppose, insane as others would say. But, from the moment Cloud defeated me and cast me into the mako in the reactor, I flowed in the lifestream, absorbing knowledge from it. Truth came rather quickly."

"Then why..." she began desperately.

He shrugged. "Why not?"

"No, I refuse to accept that!" she yelled at him, "I... I thought I had nothing and no one, but you? One doesn't just try to destroy the world when there's so much left for them in it!"

He narrowed his eyes, unable for once to control his anger. "Left for me? How little you know. Tell me, _child_ , what do you actually know of me? Of my life before I came to Nibelheim?"

Tifa took a hesitating step back. "I..."

"I was raised as Hojo's pet experiment. I was sent to slaughter villages in Wutai at the age of twelve as part of the war. I was idolized and put on a pedestal for the whole world to see as part of Shinra's endless publicity campaign. I lived and breathed nothing but being a SOLDIER, nothing but that building, going on missions, training, and Hojo's labs. My only two friends I ever had turned their backs on me, abandoned me, left me behind when I would have gladly gone with them had they had but _asked_. The only Mother that I knew was a two-thousand year old monster, as Genesis so aptly put it. When I finally snapped and slaughtered everyone around me, when I burned your village to the ground and nearly killed Zackery, the only one who I might have had left to call a friend, what did I have left to go back too but my Mother's embrace and desires?" he spat out viciously.

He slowly shook his head. "No Lockheart. This world had nothing left to offer me. So, as you did, I tried to take what I could from it. Mother, as your Father did, tried to use me to her own ends, but, unlike you and your Father, she was weak when I was strong. I overruled her will as time progressed, and, like any good _monster_ , I tried to destroy the world."

He tilted his head back and laughed once more. "I spoke to Cloud once, telling him of my desire to find a new world. To create on it's soil a shining future. I question now what I could find there. After all..."

He grew amused. "What future could monsters truly have?"

He turned to look at Tifa, half expecting her to be staring at him in mute horror. Instead, all he found was sadness in her gaze.

"None," she whispered sadly, "We have no future..."

She bowed her head. "Cloud can say it all he wants, that it wasn't my fault, but I see it in his eyes. I imagine I'd see it in the other's too. I'll never have a real place with them anymore. To them, at best, I'm a memory of their former friend..."

A memory...

Sephiroth frowned intently. "Never chose to just be a memory."

Tifa raised her head slowly. "What else is there? What future is there for me? I'm a monster, a monster without a future..."

Sephiroth curled his lips, agitated with her, and with himself for going on that tirade. "If you so wish to wallow in your own despair, then so be it, breath deep and drown in it. Rot for all I care if you prove to be so weak. Otherwise..."

He walked forward, stopping inches from her, but she did not flinch away, she looked up at him, into eyes, searching for an answer. "Otherwise...?"

"Otherwise, you can pick yourself up and move on. The only future a monster has is the one it takes for itself," said Sephiroth.

He smirked. "And a monster is something capable of taking and desiring a great many things."

He stared at her, into her red catlike eyes for a time. Eyes so very like his own. The proximity was intoxicating, with their minds connected like this, her presence was a melody in his head that would not go away. He reached up and brushed a strand of hair from her face, grasping and twiddling it between his fingers.

He studied her face for a moment, before an impulse took him, a desire. He grew amused by the so mortal craving, and decided to follow through with it this one time. He leaned forward and devoured her lips, cupping the back of her head his his hands and pressing her against him. For a brief moment, he let himself enjoy the taste of her before he pulled and turned away.

"Choose your fate Lockheart. I leave within the hour to choose my own," said Sephiroth, not even bothering to stay and watch whatever her reaction to the kiss had been.

With that, he severed his connection to her mind and pulled out.

* * *

Sephiroth blinked a few times and moved his hand away from Tifa's head. He walked around her bed, to the infirmary door, and walked out. He made for the deck of the ship and stood along the side, gazing out into the night's sky.

At the turn of the hour, he extended his wing, ready to leave, only to pause at the soft footfall of feet. He turned his head to see Tifa walking towards him. She closed the distance and turned, her eyes looking out at the sky, her wing stretching itself out to the side to get rid of it's stiffness.

Sephiroth said nothing, and made no indication to suggest that she do so, but when he took off into the night's sky, she followed...


	9. Haunted

Aerith sat at a table in the Highwind's dinning room, twiddling her hair silently. Zack sat to her left, head on the table, drool leaking out of his mouth, much to her amusement. Tifa had put him through the ringer yesterday, he was still a bit tired. The rest of Avalanche, save for Cloud and Vincent, were scattered around the room. Angeal and Genesis were off somewhere talking to themselves. Vincent had been the one who was watching Tifa at the moment, and had apparently been watching her all night instead of waking Cloud for his shift, much to his annoyance. He had left a minute ago to go relieve Vincent.

Aerith took a tired sip of coffee. The sleep she got last night hardly felt like enough. There was a bone deep ache that was penetrating all throughout her body. It didn't come from anything physical, but, using every last ounce of energy she had wasn't something that one just sprang back from the next day. On top of that, she had a headache starting. The planet's whispering wasn't helping either, and because she had merged with Holy and became a WEAPON, it was impossible to tune the planet out. Not that it was saying anything important, it was like one of the starving child she used to see in the slums, softly sobbing to itself because of a pain.

Her face fell a bit at that. The planet's pain was extreme. So much of the lifestream had been used so quickly. It was in a weakened state, and while the lifestream could heal over time, this was something that was going to take centuries to recover from. At least Morbunova had left no cells in the lifestream after she had fed it the tainted portion in Mideel. Not to mention, Jenova was apparently finally fully gone from the lifestream, from the planet as well. Well, except for the individuals that contained her cells.

Aerith rubbed her chin in thought. Cloud and Sephiroth bore Jenova cells yes, but, they were mostly the 'S-Cells' which were Sephiroth's version of them. Jenova could not use those two specifically unless they let her. There were still a few SOLDIERs scattered around the planet as well, but, Jenova wouldn't be strong enough to control them. The largest quantity of Jenova cells at this point probably resided in Lucrecia Crescent, and she was still sealed in a mako crystal. Aerith herself could purge the Jenova out of Lucrecia and the regular SOLDIERs, and she was going to make it her mission to do so. After that, Jenova would be finally dealt with and the planet would be Calamity free for the first time in over two-thousand years, baring Cloud, Sephiroth and Tifa of course.

The planet murmured happily at that thought, though, it had misgivings about Tifa, and was terrified of Sephiroth. Speaking of the One-Winged Angel, she couldn't detect his presence on the Highwind, or anywhere in the immediate vicinity. So, he was gone then, for the moment. She was still... surprised... that Sephiroth had fought alongside the others, and even parted ways without resuming his battle. She did threaten him, but, she didn't really think he would just leave without even some kind of offensive action, even if it was just an argument to try and get the last word in, petty as it sounded. At least him being gone would let them focus on Tifa without... wait...

She couldn't feel Tifa's presence on the ship either.

As if on cue, Cloud walked into the room, flopped down in a chair on the other side of Aerith's table, and seethed, "Tifa's gone."

Zack stirred. "H-huh?"

Cloud glared furiously towards the entrance of the room. "Ask _HIM_!"

Aerith turned to see Vincent walk into the room. "Tifa awoke and left last night soon after I started my shift."

"And you let her go?!" exclaimed Yuffie, "Seriously, she's all messed up in the head right now! The heck Vincent?"

Vincent crossed his arms. "She was fully lucid and aware. I asked her which of her memories were real, and she answered correctly. I saw no reason to hold her against her will."

"Huh?" said Yuffie, "If she's figured that out, why'd she leave?"

"Why'd ya think?" muttered Barret, "Ya think Teef could bare ta face us right now? She needs time."

"But she shouldn't be alone right now!" whined Yuffie, "She could get hurt and..."

Zack coughed. "I went a round with that lady, trust me, the only things on this planet that could hurt her are on this ship, or are Sephiroth."

"And where exactly is Sephiroth?" said Cloud, "Has anyone seen him?"

Aerith spoke up. "He's gone. He isn't anywhere nearby that I can sense, and I'd rather not disturb the planet to locate him right now."

"If he runs into Tifa...," started Cloud.

"If your concern is them running into one another, you need not worry," said Vincent.

"Why?" asked Cloud.

"They left together," was Vincent reply.

Cloud coughed. "T-they what?!"

Vincent shrugged. "I watched them go."

"Why didn't you stop them?!" exclaimed Cloud, "He might have been influencing or controlling Tifa to get her away from us!"

Vincent crossed his arms. "To what end?"

"Oh, I don't know, to influence her to fight us like the Calamity did? Yuffie is right, she's not... at peak condition right now. Sephiroth's influence is the last thing she needs," snarled Cloud.

Vincent merely raised an eyebrow. "A valid point save one thing. There was no mental control between them."

"And how do you know?" demanded Cloud.

"Chaos," said Vincent with a hint of amusement.

Cloud narrowed his eyes. "Sephiroth is a master manipulator, even without using his powers."

Vincent merely stared at Cloud, who rose to his feet, fists clenched. "I can't believe you'd just let her go with him!"

"Enough," said Aerith, slapping her hand down on the table.

She didn't like to be forceful, but yelling at eachother was and starting a fight was not happening on her watch. "Vincent, for what specific reason did you let her go? You wouldn't have let her go without one."

Vincent shrugged. "Chaos told me to."

"And you listened?" exclaimed Cloud.

Aerith pursed her lips. "You seem pretty indifferent to the whole thing Vincent."

Vincent uncrossed his arms and turned to the door. "Chaos has his reasons, and for once, I agree. I suggest you leave it at that."

Aerith watched him go, extremely unsatisfied with that answer. Chaos wanted Tifa to leave with Sephiroth? She nudged the planet, trying to see if she could get a clue as to what was going on, but the planet merely murmured quietly in pain.

"Jezz... what do we do now?" said Yuffie.

Zack put his head back on the table. "Go back to sleep is my vote. I'm way to tired for this."

Aerith sighed and reached over, putting a hand through his hair. "Me too Mr. Sleepyhead, me too..."

* * *

" _Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess, we seek it thus, and take to the sky, ripples form on the water's surface, the wandering soul knows no rest._ "

Angeal walked over to the side of the Highwind, leaning against the railing. "Act one."

Genesis looked up from his book, a faint smile on his face. "You remembered."

Angeal looked into the sky. "What did Sepheroth say that one time? 'How can i not when you've beaten it into my head?'"

They shared a chuckle before trailing off uncomfortably.

"Why are you out here instead of in there with them?" asked Genesis.

"I could ask you the same thing," replied Angeal.

Genesis chuckled. "The Planet's Champion would most likely prefer to take my head for my involvement in Nibelheim. I'd rather not be near him for the foreseeable future. Not that I don't deserve such a fate. You?"

Angeal shook his head. "That group is of heroes, and I am no such thing. I don't deserve their company."

Genesis nodded slowly. "Neither of us are heroes I suppose. Even my one good deed of fighting the Calamity pales in comparison to the disaster I personally wrought."

He laughed. "How I craved that tittle, how little I understood of what it meant, and what it took to truly be one. Between you, me, and Sephiroth, none of us got it and the Puppy swiped it right out from under our noses."

Angeal smiled sadly. "That he did."

They both stared at eachother for a time. Angeal wondered if now was the appropriate moment. They had talked about old and better times since they had been reunited after the battle against the Calamity, but... they had yet to talk about what had happened that had split them all apart to begin with. That crisis had torn them apart from one another, destroyed the core of their worlds...

Genesis apparently was thinking the same thing. "I never should have told you, never should have asked you to come with me that time at the Wutai Fort."

Angeal snorted. "And leave me oblivious to Shinra's crimes? Leave me to continue being used by them? No thanks."

Genesis rubbed his eyes tiredly. "What should I have done then?"

"Aside from not trust someone in a white lab coat?" asked Angeal with dry humor.

Genesis snorted. "Obviously."

Angeal looked away for a moment. "I... never called you out for it Genesis... but... the SOLDIERs, the people under your command, you..."

Genesis closed his eyes. "Robbed them of who they were, turned them into copies of myself? I could defend the planet from ten Calamities and never atone for that sin."

Angeal sighed. "You... we... shouldn't have just up and left. We were in positions of power within Shinra, somehow, someway, maybe we could have changed things."

"What we could have done in skin Hojo and Hollander alive, throttled Scarlet, disemboweled Heidegger, and shoved the President off the top of the Shinra building," said Genesis dryly.

He looked up into the sky. "The sad thing is? We could have done it to. You, me, and Sephiroth could have destroyed and remade the company. All of SOLDIER would have followed us. Instead? I ran off and became a monster instead of trying to figure out what it took _To Be Human_."

"We both did," said Angeal softly, "And at least you never made your own apprentice kill you."

Genesis snorted. "Not that I ever took one."

"Genesis, the terror of Cadets and 3rd Class SOLDIERs alike," mocked Angeal.

They both laughed.

Genesis sighed. "At the very least, I shouldn't have turned my comrades and followers into clones. That... even losing myself to degradation doesn't excuse that. I... also should have come to you, come to both of you. If not for your help with my degradation, then to take you with me, but of course, my damn pride and bitterness towards Sephiroth ruined it."

"On that note, how did your degradation get cured?" asked Angeal.

Genesis answered quietly, " _The gift of the goddess_. A gift I was most unworthy of, but, who am I to question Minerva's will? She saw a use in me, and now I owe a debt I doubt I can ever truly pay. Though, I will try."

He looked to Angeal. "And you? Why did you choose to come back?"

Angeal raised an eyebrow. "Choose? I had my memories and soul reconstructed from the lifestream against my will, and then my Puppy dug his fangs in and practically dragged me back. I only relented to them at the end because frankly, if my mere existence can help save the planet by keeping the other WEAPONs pure, then I have no right to refuse. Instead of being a monster, I am a tool. Nothing more, nothing less."

Genesis eyed him for a moment before snorting. "Bullshit."

Angeal flinched. "What?"

"Was it a mere tool who threw himself infront of Sephiroth to save him? I'm pretty sure the Planet would have preferred him dead so please Angeal, don't even try that route," chided Genesis.

Angeal stared at him for a moment before smiling faintly. "When did you grow up?"

Genesis snorted again. "Sometime between sprouting a wing, degrading, and battling a Calamity midair over a lake of Mako. I can't honestly tell you the exact point."

They shared a smile at that.

"By the way Angeal, did my eyes deceive me, or were you _USING_ the Buster Sword?" jabbed Genesis.

Angeal coughed. "Zack... might have given it back to me and convinced me to use it."

Genesis shook his head. "That Puppy, did you see how casual he was around Sephiroth? That pout he gave him, hah. Your Pup never ceases to amaze me I suppose."

"Never ceases to amaze me either," murmured Angeal.

"Speaking of Sephiroth," started Genesis with hesitation.

"I have no idea how were supposed to even approach him, let alone get him to talk to us," said Angeal with frustration.

Genesis looked a little relived. "So, you wish to bridge the divide as well?"

Angeal scratched his head. "Yeah... but... Genesis, we really screwed up. Making him go insane aside, even before that, what Zack said to me, we abandoned him. Everything he did is on us."

Genesis nodded. " _Pride is lost, wings stripped away, the end is nigh_. He did admit to wanting to gut me if Lockheart did not kill me."

"I don't even want to know what he'd want to do to me. I'd settle for throttling, but somehow I don't think it would be enough," said Angeal.

Genesis chuckled. "I imagine we'd both be dangling on the end of Masamune if he had his way."

Angeal smiled grimly, but didn't respond.

Genesis flipped open his copy of LOVELESS. "One year. That's all I'll allow him. One year and then, one way or another, we have things to settle between the three of us."

Angeal nodded. "A year huh? Surprised you'd consider waiting that long."

Genesis rolled his eyes. "A year is nothing now."

"And why is that?" asked Angeal.

Genesis snorted. "Were WEAPONs now Angeal. I don't know if you fully understand what that means. Unless we are killed we cannot die, disease and age hold no claim anymore. And even dying in battle, I'm not sure the planet would let us go."

Angeal stared at him, dumbfounded.

"When we have an eternity of service to make up to the Planet, what is a year?" asked Genesis, flipping a page of his book...

* * *

Aerith had never had a shoulder rub before, and she was shocked to find what she had been missing out on. She sat on her bed in her assigned room in the Highwind, Zack sitting behind her, hands on her shoulder's tenderly massaging back and forth. Her body wasn't physically tired, but oh did it feel good.

"Better?" asked Zack.

Aerith nodded. "Yeah."

"Ya know Aerith, I was kind of impressed when you did that table-smackdown of yours," said Zack, "Who woulda thought my little flower girl could take command like that?"

Aerith giggled a little. "Command? Please Zack, all I did was get them to not throttle one another."

Zack chuckled. "If you say so."

Aerith could feel his presence go sad. "Who woulda thought it... I... really missed a lot in your life, didn't I?"

Aerith turned her head to look at him. "It's okay Zack."

He slowly shook his head, his hands falling off her shoulders. "I was so close Aerith, I was so close to reaching you."

His face contorted in unusual anger for him. "Damn Hojo, damn Shinra."

"Zack," she said, worry on her face.

Zack clenched his fists. "I should have been there. I should of been there to help Cloud, and save you."

Aerith crawled on the bed and got behind him, doing her best to imitate his earlier shoulder massage. "You were there for Cloud when it truly mattered Zack."

She giggled a little. "And even afterwards, though, I don't know how you feel about him copying your moves and some of your memories."

Zack waved his hands into the air dramatically. "Copyright claims! I'm totally gonna sue Spikey!"

Aerith giggled again. "Oh Zack stop."

He looked back to smile at her for a moment before growing sad again. "I am sorry that I wasn't there for you, and that I made you wait so long."

Aerith wrapped her arms around him and put her head on his shoulder. "I said it was okay Zack. I never held it against you. I was never more proud of you when I learned of what you did for Cloud, for everything that you gave up for him, for your sacrifice."

Zack closed his eyes, a grim look on his face. "..."

Aerith winced, suddenly feeling like she shouldn't have brought his death up. "Zack..."

"I'd do it again for him, but, I wish I hadn't had to, I wish neither me or Cloud had to go through those years of... of... hell, at Hojo's hands. I wish Sephiroth hadn't gone crazy... I wish I hadn't had to kill Angeal. Heck, I never really liked Genesis, but, I wish he hadn't begun degrading either. This whole thing... it's just screwed up. Shinra screwed everything up," said Zack bitterly.

Aerith held him tighter, suddenly feeling like she was back in the church in Sector 5 after Zack had killed Angeal. Being revived didn't take the pain of what had happened away from him. She wished she could just take it all away.

"Well, Shinra's mostly gone now, so, look at this as a second chance for things to get better," offered Aerith.

Zack snorted. "Assuming we don't have those crazy Calamity things raining down on our heads every other day."

Aerith went still at that, feeling apprehensive. That... was a very real thing that the Planet was scared about. The New Calamity had said something about a death call, more of its kind could be attracted to the Planet. The New Calamity had come decently close to winning, if not for Holy and Sephiroth's idea to launch it into the sun, things would have gone a far different and bleak route.

"Sorry," came Zack's voice.

Aerith blinked and refocused. "For what?"

"For sayin that, didn't mean to scare you," he answered.

He gripped her arms around him tightly. "I won't let a single one of those monsters lay a hand on you."

She smiled faintly. "My knight in shinning armor huh?"

Zack beamed. "You betcha!"

They grew silent for a time, sitting there together. Aerith closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation of just being alive, being there with him. It had been so long, the word 'comforting' didn't even come close to describing what she felt. The Planet had said that her time when there wasn't a crisis was hers to spend... and... she knew just who she wanted to spend it with.

Her face grew a little red. "H-hey Zack..."

He tilted his head to look at her curiously. "Something wrong?"

She started to grew a bit bashful and nervous. "I-I remember you saying s-something in the lifestream..."

He frowned. "Something?"

Her face grew beat red. "S-something about there being tons of... little Aerith and Zack babies running around if we had stayed alive."

Zack blinked a few times and raised an eyebrow at her, his own hesitation clearly present. "Y-yeah, what about it?"

"Did you mean it?" she asked quietly, "Did you really want to spend the rest of your life with me?

Zack turned between her arms and kissed her faster then she could blink. "Yeah Aerith, I did. I woulda married you, and we'd have tooooonss of little Aerith and Zack babies running around! Little rascals would be everywhere!"

She giggled and hiccuped, her blush growing further. "Well, if that was a proposal, I accept."

Oh that smile on his face, it was like every single care in the world had left him. "Aerith..."

A mischievous look crossed his face. "Guess we have a lot of makeup time to do then!"

Aerith gave a startled yelp as suddenly she was laying down on her back, and Zack was ontop of her kissing her like it was the end of the world...

* * *

Yuffie was _PISSED_! She stormed down to the lower decks of the Highwind, looking for her target. How dare he. _HOW DARE HE_! He was supposed to be their friend! Yet he... he... she just felt so betrayed!

She opened the final door and stepped into a darkened room. "VINCENT!"

"Yes?" came a soft reply from a black corner.

"How could you?" she demanded, "Tifa needs us and you just let her go with him?"

There was silence.

"Aerith might have put it to a close earlier but I will _NOT_ let it go!" she said through clenched teeth, "Your supposed to be our friend! Supposed to look out for us!"

Again, silence.

"Say something you big dummy emo jerk!" she yelled.

Silence.

"I swear I'm going to steal all of your materia and never give it back!" she threatened.

Silence.

"JUST SAY SOMETHING!" she yelled.

"Something," came an amused voice.

Yuffie was shaking in anger. "Vincent... what the hell is wrong with you?"

"First, little ninja, I am not Valentine," came the amused voice.

Yuffie froze. "C-chaos?"

Vincent, still in his normal form, stepped a bit from his dark corner. His eyes... they weren't gold?

"What the hell?" was all Yuffie could say.

"We exist together now, two half's of the same coin, rather than two corpses in one body," said Vincent-Chaos.

Yuffie was on edge, on the fritz. What the hell did this mean then? Who was in control? And wait... did Vincent even have the protomateria anymore? And since when did Chaos get all chatter-boxy and not rip-out-your-throatey?

"The Goddess asked Valentine to merge with me, and he did," said Vincent-Chaos, "We can exist separately when we so choose, but, at other times its best to share joint control."

Vincent-Chaos stalked closer and stood infront of Yuffie. "What is it that you want 'little ninja'?"

Yuffie stared into his eyes silently for a moment. "Why?"

"Why what?" was the reply.

"Why did you let Tifa go? Especially with _HIM_ of all people?" hissed Yuffie.

Vincent-Chaos seemed amused, again, why the hell was he always looking like he was making fun of her? "Because I chose to."

"Bullcrap!" she hissed, "Vincent would not go along with 'because i chose to'."

There was a sigh and tone change. "Yuffie..."

That was Vincent, she was pretty sure of it. "Answer the question."

"You all seem to think Tifa would be the one influenced," said Vincent.

"Uh, yeah? She did have a giant space bug parasite thingy in her head after all," retorted Yuffie.

Vincent turned and moved back into the shadows before answering, "Perhaps she did, but..."

"But what?" she demanded.

"But you fail to consider that Tifa is not the only one influenced, and that she might in fact be the one influencing, even if she doesn't realize it," said Vincent.

Yuffie stared in the darkness, confused like hell. "Huh?"

"Her mere existence as she is now, even if I would not have wished it on her, changes things, in ways I don't think any of you realize," said Vincent, "None of you were observing Sephiroth as I was when Tifa was being tended to."

Yuffie's eyebrows furrowed. "I... don't understand."

"You don't need to. Tifa is in no danger, just stay out of her and Sephiroth's way for the time being and he will no longer be a threat," said Vincent.

Yuffie was utterly baffled. "Vincent..."

There was nothing but silence.

Slowly, Yuffie shook her head, turned, and left the room, feeling bitter as hell. "Stupid scruffy vampire."

She walked out and down the hall. Whatever reason Vincent had, he could go shove it up his ass. She felt betrayed and miserable. They were a team! A great big group of weirdos that took care of eachother. Yet here he was using Tifa, even without doing anything but let her go when he _SHOULD_ have been looking out for her! What was wrong with him? Had he changed since coming back to life apparently 'merged' with Chaos? Or had she simply never really understood him?

She stopped and bowed her head, feeling dejected and alone. "I can't believe I cried for him when he died..."

* * *

Vincent stared silently at the closed door. "..."

_The little ninja seems distraught by your words._

Vincent shifted uncomfortably at Chaos's words. "I'm aware."

_This is beyond her understanding, beyond any of their understanding. Even the possibility of pacifying Calamity's Child is not something that can afford to be ignored._

Vincent grunted in response.

_Perhaps it is even beyond your understanding, for I know what is in your mind. You agree with the choice to have let them go, but for different reasons than I. Tell me, the way he looked at her, did it remind you of yourself and Lucrecia?_

Vincent closed his eyes and sighed tiredly.

_I believe the human term is 'hit the nail on the head'?_

"There is no peace to be found for either of them here," whispered Vincent, "Both of them were used by the Calamities, both of their lives destroyed by events out of their control. Lucrecia's son, and Tifa, both deserve a second chance. If they can give that chance to one another, and find some semblance of happiness, or at least become content, then its more than I could ever ask."

_Hmph, and what of you?_

Vincent merely tucked his chin, saying and thinking nothing.

_Some things never change Valantine, even when one has died and been reborn. The children of the Calamities are not the only ones who have been given a second chance. I suggest you use yours as well._

Vincent kept his mind and mouth blank, merely choosing to listen to the creaking of the ship as it swayed in the wind flying through the air...

* * *


	10. Child of Calamity

Tifa sat down against a log, staring into their campfire while waiting for Sephiroth to return with the latest kill for food, brooding to herself.

Traveling with Sephiroth wasn't what Tifa imagined it would be. She had expected a rude, inconsiderate, assholish, insane megalomaniac constantly harassing her, mocking her for her sins, as a form of punishment she had chosen for herself. Instead, he was just... quiet. Brooding. He walked silently, eyes washing over the environment. She had saw brief flickers of emotions in his eyes, the rest of his face masked. She could not help but wonder what he saw to trigger those brief flashes. Was it his own past? Or was he thinking of the future? She didn't have the heart to ask, not when the environment haunted her as well. She had traveled the world before with AVALANCHE, as they passed familiar places, two different sets of memories haunted her, one set happy, one sent horrific.

She shook her head and re-focused. Traveling with Sephiroth was different, vastly different, from her previous travels with AVALANCHE. The complete and utter silence was off-putting and hard to deal with. But, with the lack of his own rebuke towards her, she chose silence, chose lack of companionship, as her own punishment for her crimes.

As the weeks passed, there were only two-reasons he'd ever talk. One was to warn or alert her of something. The other was to request to spar and offer advice while doing so. She reminded him of the person he was once said to be. The top of SOLDIER, a commander, a general leading his troops. His speech was formal, brisk, and to the point. She preferred it that way, well... almost...

She hadn't had the nerve to ask him yet...

Why had he come to her when she was lost in herself? She didn't understand. Had he been helping her? Mocking her? Tormenting her? Saving her? It made no sense, and... and... that kiss... it wasn't a physical one, it had been a kiss between minds and souls... it had sent her reeling and confused the hell out of her. As awkward and potentially horrifying as the thought of him being attracted to her was, he had shown no further interest, and that, had riled her up. To have her mind and soul be kissed so passionately like that and then tossed aside afterwards lit a furious fire in her. The only companionship and yearning a monster should have was another monster, but he didn't even seem to care for her presence at all. Perhaps that in itself was another form of punishment the world saw fit to lay on her.

She could admit... after losing her ability to blame him for Nibelheim in the wake of her sins at Edge, she could see him in a new light. He was impressively handsome when she wasn't feeling terrified of or fighting against him. He was a bit distant, okay, extremely distant, but, they didn't exactly know each other well. Nor were they used to each-other yet. The raw power and skill he had was astounding, when he practiced his sword kata's, he was mesmerizing... but... the only interest he saw in her at the moment was only as a sparring partner. She sighed and suppressed the rising desires, scolding herself for feeling like a hormonal teenager over a single kiss, no matter how _euphoric_ it had been, and focused her thoughts elsewhere.

She had to admit, Sephiroth was good, _really good_. Master Zangan didn't hold a candle to Sephiroth's form in hand-to-hand combat. While she could hold her own, she was still learning and improving rapidly. She smirked to herself, yesterday she had knocked him flat on his ass at the end of their spar. Rather than get mad and call it a fluke as she thought he would, he simply dusted himself off, rose to his feet, complimented her growing skill, and then retired for the night.

Praise from the general. Hmph. What a long way she had come to be able to go toe-to-toe with him in martial arts.

Her smirk left her face, she bowed her head and sighed. "If only the price for that power hadn't been so high..."

Had she been given a real choice in the mater, she never would have accepted it. Marlene... Denzel... Edge... her friend's faith and trust... her own damnation... no amount of power was worth losing so much. She'd throw all the mako and Calamity in her body away if she could just have them all back.

Damn him... damn m-m-m-mo-r-r-b... father.

She growled under her breath. She couldn't even call or think of him by anything but 'Father'. She knew it was a lie, but, it was like a compulsion she couldn't resist! Like it was ingrained in her very mind, body, and soul. He had hurt her so much, but she still couldn't think of him as anything but her father, wasn't allowed to profane against his name in anywhere but the deepest recess of her mind. She considered it a miracle she wasn't compelled to keep fighting in his name when he was gone.

She brooded silently. How was it possible to go in and just wipe clean and replace someones memories like that? To completely and utterly desecrate and corrupt their body? She raised a hand, grabbing a lock of her hair and bringing it around in-front of her eyes to look at. She was damned. Corrupted. Tainted. Turned into a monster that would never find release. They had sent Sephiroth back to the life-stream enough times to figure he could never truly dissolve into the collective of souls, especially not without corrupting it. So... was this her fate then? Forever doomed to this damnation?

Tifa gave a bitter laugh. "Fuck... I'm channeling Vincent pretty damn good right now."

She let go of her hair and sighed, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. This is why she hated silence, it let her think to much. There was nothing to distract her from her own mind and demons. What she wouldn't give for Marlene's constant chatter or Denzel's inquisitive nature right now...

Her ears perked at the sound of something being dragged in the distance. There were at least _some_ good perks of being enhanced. The increased strength, natural abilities, and senses she had attained were impressive and useful. Though, it had certainly taken some getting used to. Especially the hearing. She could literally hear heartbeats if it was quiet enough. Not to mention other umm... personal acts... gods it was embarrassing to realize she hadn't gone near enough away from the group to relieve herself back during the Meteorfall crisis. How had Cloud put up with all of that?

Taste was... perhaps the most enjoyable increased sense. Though, it could also be the worst, because everything, good taste and bad taste, was greatly enhanced. It was... maybe a good thing she was starting to come around to eating monster meat. Sephiroth didn't particularly seem to care what he ate, whatever he brought back to their camps they made he skinned cooked and ate. Tifa doubted food poisoning or other related ailments could even effect either of them anymore.

Sephiroth entered the camp sight a moment later, dragging two wolf-like creatures. He set one down on his side of the campfire, and threw one towards her side before drawing a knife and readying to prepare his food. It hit the ground and whined a bit. Ugh, he hadn't even bothered killing this one. Eh... she'd get around to it in a bit, she wasn't honestly hungry at the moment.

She stared at him for a moment, mulling over one of her earlier thoughts before asking, "Sephiroth, is it possible to learn to defend one's mind?"

Sephiroth paused and looked up at her. "In what regard?"

She closed her eyes and spoke with a bit of turmoil. "Resisting memory and mind manipulation or control."

Sephiroth nodded. "It is."

Tifa opened her eyes and regarded him. She was a bit... uncertain how to approach him on this... maybe... she should just outright ask? He was a rather upfront and blunt man, maybe he'd respect that.

"Can you teach me?" she asked.

Sephiroth studied briefly. "Perhaps, but what do you have to offer in return?"

She scowled at him. "What would you want? It's not like I have anything of value on me."

"One set of lessons, in return for another," he said.

She blinked a few times. "What could I possibly teach you?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Who said you would be?"

She blanked. "Uh... huh?"

"Sparring with martial arts sates my appetite for combat only so far. If you wish me to teach you to defend your mind, you will also agree to be taught how to wield a blade," bargained Sephiroth.

Tifa shrugged. "Umm... okay?"

Sephiroth seemed a bit surprised. "You'd be willing?"

Tifa crossed her arms. "What? Just because I've used my body as my weapon my entire life you think I'm adverse to learning to use other weapons? Oh no, miss fists can't possible learn or want to learn how to wield a sword or a gun or whatever."

Sephiroth scowled at her. "Spare me your mocking. I'll give you your first lesson tonight, tomorrow, we begin heading to a place to either find you or make you a proper sword."

"Where do you have in mind?" she asked.

"Wutai," was his reply, "It's where Masamune was made after all.

"Uh... are you exactly welcomed there?" she asked with chagrin, "The Wutai war..."

Sephiroth scoffed. "Am I welcome there? Lockheart, I ask, am I welcome _anywhere_?"

Tifa paused briefly before chuckling. "Point taken."

Sephiroth began skinning his monster as he spoke. "The first step to defending your mind is realizing it as separate extension of yourself, as a weapon. As a martial artist, you are aware of how to bring out your inner energy, your chakra, ki, life-force, whatever you so wish to call it."

Tifa nodded. "Mhm, it's what gives my Final Heaven its oomph."

Sephiroth resumed, "You realize your inner energy as a separate extension of yourself, you must try to do the same as with your mind. This is especially important for beings like us."

She tilted her head. "Why?"

"Our cells," was his reply, "How do you think I'm always aware of Cloud? How I could dominate his mind when he was living a disillusion seeing himself as Zackary? Through our minds we can direct our cells in other beings."

He grew cross. "On that regard, beyond the simplicity of mental prowess, we both must also learn to resist the call of other Calamities. Your Father attempting to initiate Reunion on me was _not_ something I wish to have repeated. I'd rather be killed and forced to reform myself from the lifestream again then go through that even once more."

She decided to take his word on that. "Noted."

She hesitated. "What... exactly is Reunion like? All Cloud's ever said was that it was like a forceful pull, a constant subconscious tug."

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. "Hmph. Is that all he told you? You lack a great deal of understanding then. Reunion has multiple parts. The subconscious tug he mentioned is meant to subtly drive whatever creature is hosting our cells to head towards the nearest greatest mass of cells. That is the first stage. The second stage of Reunion involves direct control, attempting to subvert the host and use it to your advantage while it still has it's use. The third and final part is the actual act of Reunion itself, drawing cells together into either the largest nearest mass, or the true host."

He grimaced. "Being on the receiving end of Reunion is... very unpleasant. To put it plainly, it's like wanting someone to cut you open, crawl in your skin, and parade around as a part of your body, or to do that to someone else. Receiving the cells however is a... very pleasant sensation, if not euphoric. To draw them in, to become one, to become whole. To become _mine_."

_Thump thump_

A high pitched whine filled Tifa's ears as Sephiroth talked and described Reunion to her. Her heartbeat began to rapidly increase in speed and power. Her hands started shaking, thoughts emptied out of her mind...

_So few...  
_

There was a soft, terrified whimper from the nearly dead monster at her feet. Tifa eyed the creature and smiled cruelly at it.

_Need more..._

Yes... she needed more cells... she _hungered_...

_Consume, grow..._

She slowly reached down for the monster.

_Mine._

* * *

Sephiroth stopped speaking abruptly as the hair on the back his head stood straight up and a shiver ran down his neck. Abruptly all sounds stopped in his immense hearing range. All the bugs had gone quiet, the wind was gone, not a creature stirred, it was as if everything was holding it's breath. He looked sharply at Lockheart as her presence seemed to shift and warp, setting off every single warning sense in his mind and body. Her eyes were glowing full on blood red. The slit of her eyes had thinned, he could see the veins in her eyes bulging. There was a maniacal look on her face as she eyed the nearly dead beast at her feet.

She reached down with both hands and grasped its head. Black ichor seemed to pour out of her hands and into the creature, causing it to squirm and whine with agony. The black ichor stopped a moment later, and the creature began to change. It grew silverlike hair from the back of its head, and it's face began to warp, turning feminine and almost human like... looking almost like... oh...

Well, Genesis had wondered if Lockheart could make copies. There was the answer to that question.

_My child... my beautiful child..._

Sephiroth felt a horrific chill creep over his body. He could hear Lockheart's mental call. It was uncontrolled, echoing, rebounding throughout the air. He went still, suddenly feeling an enormous presence focusing on them. Never before had he felt Gaia's presence so intensely focused. It could feel Lockheart's Reunion call, and he could feel it's fear, borderline terror.

_Grow... spread... become mine..._

Sephiroth could feel Lockheart's cells in the creature spread virulently, faster than any plague he had ever heard of, faster than even Jenova would spread through most creatures and people. He didn't know if it was because of her proximity, or if her cells would naturally spread like that with her focus. But it was alarming. She was far more like the Calamity that sired her than he was to Mother. What was worse, this wasn't even a focused conscious effort. From what he could tell, she was completely lost in herself, in her Reunion instinct.

Forget Mother, forget her Father, hell, even forget himself. Lockheart was the most dangerous Calamity or Calamity Child in existence as far as he was concerned. Morbunova wasn't a _nuisance_ , it was a _fool_. Did it have _ANY_ idea what it had done by creating Lockheart? If she put a conscious effort into training and mastering her infectious abilities and Reunion, empowering the effects and virulence, she could most likely single-handedly infect and consume Gaia's lifestream and goddess within weeks, if not _days_. The pure pressure she was exerting... he wasn't even sure he could resist her infecting him if it came down to it, gods... was this what true fear felt like?

The creature had finished its transformation in less than thirty seconds. He had been wrong, so wrong. This wasn't a mere 'copy', she had went beyond what Genesis and Angeal had been able to do, the wolf had been completely changed into a Calamity-Tainted creature. It was a wolf only in vague shape. It's fur was gone, replaced by a slimy looking skin. It's claws had sharpened and elongated. Tentacles stretched out of its body, dripping black ichor that could infect and warp who knows how many people or creature's with Lockheart's cells.

Sephiroth regarded Lockheart with a new light and great alarm. She had all the power of a pure-Calamity child like himself, and the contagiousness and control of a Calamity, empowered and mixed in a way it never should have been. Without Morbunova to maintain control over her, she could go off unhinged and uncontrolled. He became incredibly unsure of his former intentions for Lockheart, wondering if he should just try and put her down now, if not to save himself from her, then to save himself from getting killed when Gaia brought its power and champions down on her. What she was doing now would not stand with Gaia's goddess, and not even it's Holy WEAPON could argue against this.

_Come to me... join with me... BECOME ONE! REUNION!  
_

The infected creature gave a cry and surged at and into Lockheart, it's flesh melting and joining with her. Sephiroth himself felt the tug, felt his own cells scream in pain despite her not even focusing on him. He watched, somewhat sickened, as the creature pushed into her, trying to merge into her body. Her flesh momentarily warped and elongated sickly before she retook her normal shape, spreading its cells throughout her body. Her presence and power had increased. She had absorbed half a body's worth of cells into herself, along with it's entire spirit, feeding off the minor lifestream within it.

Finally, seemingly unable to absorb any more of its cells into herself, he felt Reunion's call stop. Slowly the blood-red glow in her eyes softened, and the slits of her eyes evened out. Her presence returned to normal, and the chill in the air faded away. Lockheart stared at the half-absorbed corpse for a moment, a blank look on her face. He swore he could visibly see her conscious return to her eyes, which suddenly widened with shock, then pure and utter horror as she realized what had just happened.

Tifa screamed in panic and threw the partially dissolved corpse away from her into the campfire. "NO!"

She turned and scrambled to her feet, bolting away. "NO NO NO! I'M NOT LIKE THEM!"

Sephiroth watched as she began screaming and crying in denial as she ran away. He scowled furiously, banished his fear, and took off after her, overtaking and tackling her to the ground, pinning her arms behind her.

"I'M NOT!" she half-screamed half-sobbed again, "I'M NOT LIKE JENOVA! I'M NOT LIKE FATHER! I'M NOT!"

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "I thought you had already accepted that you were a monster?"

Tifa furiously shook her head, hiccuping and sobbing, "I... I... I..."

Sephiroth scoffed. "Did you think this was but a nightmare that you would wake up from? Or is it that secretly, deep down, you hoped you weren't a monster? That somehow, everything would turn out alright and you could someday go back to your friends?"

Tifa began to cry in earnest, full force, her entire body heaving as she wailed.

Sephiroth slowly shook his head, amazed that he could actually feel pity. "Fool. Life is one utter cruelty after another. The quicker you learn, the easier it becomes."

He hefted her up and returned her to the campfire, plopping her down where she had been. To his surprise, the moment he let go, she lunged at him, wrapping her arms around him and burying her head into his stomach, sobbing uncontrollably. He stood there, absolutely lost and uncertain as to what to do. How in the world had he felt fear of this utterly pitiful creature? Perhaps he had chosen his words to her rather poorly. She looked completely destroyed, borderline ready to fully breakdown and never pick herself back up again.

That however... could not be allowed to happen. If she lost herself, her instincts could take over in place of conscious thought, and he was the closest thing to her to infect and consume. He would take on the roll of comforter, as much as he loathed it, if only to save his own skin and potentially keep her as a worthy rival. She could be trained to control and suppress her Reunion instincts, she had to be, otherwise she would become a great devourer of the likes Gaia had never seen before.

He tapped into old memories, of various times he had seen mothers would comfort children, how fellow SOLDIERs would watch over and take care of friends in the infirmary, or in medical tents on the battlefield. Anything like that he desperately searched for in his mind.

He ran a hand through her hair. "Shh Lockheart, calm yourself. Listen to me."

There was a hiccup and a slightly-lowering of the volume of her sobbing.

"You can learn to control and repress your Reunion instincts," he said softly, his hands combing through her hair, "You do not have to choose to become like your Father."

Her sobbing weakened a bit. "I... I feel... so empty..."

He frowned. Empty?

"Gods... I... I want... I _hunger_... I... _Reunion_... NO!" she began wailing again, struggling against herself and her urges.

Sephiroth scolded himself. Idiot. Why in the world had he described Reunion to her? He should have figured it might trigger something in her. She was fairly larval, infantile in her abilities as a child of Calamity. She had no experience and control developed yet, nor a parent to guide her like he had with his own Mother. He did not have the same Calamity based abilities she did. He could try and guide her, to a degree, but the rest she'd have to do on her own. For the moment though, he needed to pacify her.

"Lockheart, control yourself, that is an _order_ ," he warned, "Unless your suppress your instincts, you will draw Gaia's wrath upon yourself, and I will not aide you. Do you wish to be killed? Or rather, do you wish to infect and consume what remaining few you may call friends? Because if they kill you and send you into the lifestream you will utterly plague and consume it, destroying this planet and killing all life on it."

Ah, there it was. Tifa tensed immediately, her sobs stopping, shock and horror on her face. If there was one thing that drove Lockheart, even after all that had happened, it was those she cared for. She closed her eyes tightly, letting out pained cries. He raised an eyebrow at that. Was it actually harmful to resist such urges? He momentarily thought to compare it to a drug addict going cold turkey and suffering withdrawal. No, this was probably worse, because this wasn't some mere addiction. This was a part of her very being she was trying to repress.

"I... I... I can't... I can't stop thinking about it...," she cried out in agony, a bit of black blood seeping out of her nose, ears, and mouth.

"Then I will silence your thoughts," he said.

Sephiroth whipped out Masamune and smashed the handle into the side of her head, hard. He caught her as she went limp and set her down on the ground. He gave a heavy sigh. This was going to become difficult.

He tilted his head, feeling Gaia's focus on them relax slightly. He could still feel its alarm and fear. It was... amusing... in a way, to realize that the Planet all of the sudden feared Lockheart more than it did him.

"So long as we are left alone and undisturbed, I will attempt to teach her to control herself," he said aloud, "But be warned, killing her or setting her off would be the last mistake you ever make. You would be wise to keep your WEAPONS sheathed for the time being."

He could feel the intense focus shift, almost as if it were regarding him and considering his words, before it slowly faded away and the normal night sounds returned into the air. With that, Sephiroth sat down next to Lockheart and began to numbly run a hand through her hair, thinking and processes what he could possibly try to do...


	11. Old Wounds

Aerith watched as Zack, Cloud, and Angeal continued to take large portions of dirt and mud from the nearby landscape to slowly fill in the crater Morbunova had left upon his arrival. They had been at it for weeks, and would probably be at it for the better part of a year, if not longer. Midgar had been huge, and the crater where it had been, even bigger.

While those three worked. Genesis had gone off to scour for the remaining SOLDIERs of the world and had begun bringing them to Aerith to be cleansed of Jenova one by one. Vincent had abruptly disappeared without a word, and the other members of AVALANCHE had gone back to their homes. All that left was her to deal with the utterly obscenely difficult task of 'Midgar'.

Midgar had already been a horrific wound on the planet. It had blackened and sucked dry the land around it. It hadn't been obviously apparent, but it almost hurt and throbbed with the planet as badly as the Northern Crater. Now? After Morbunova's arrival, it hurt the planet even worse. It was up to her to tend to the land and try to restore the lifestream's proper flow through the area. This was something that should have required the guidance and aid of hundreds of Cetra. Unfortunately, she was it. Even as the Holy WEAPON, she was still only one person.

She knelt outside of the crater, praying, hours every day, willing the weak lifestream to try and thread through the land. The fact that the planet was weak after its struggles didn't help the mater. She didn't need to fully restore the land to perfection as it had been before Midgar had been built. If she could just restore it to some semblance of life, nature would take its course over time.

She sighed to herself. Midgar wouldn't be the last healing she had to do for the planet. The mako lake at Mideel had to be dealt with. Not to mention, with Jenova mostly gone, it was time for the Northern Crater to be healed as well. That however was a project for another day... and perhaps... one her child could one day help with as a way to teach him or her about their nature as a Cetra.

Aerith smiled warmly and put a hand against her stomach. With her heightened senses and abilities, she could already feel the threads of life starting within her. She blushed to herself, while she and Zack hadn't been that far in their relationship before he died, they had been in love. Perhaps it had been to quick to make this jump, but, they had a lot of lost time to make up for. She had no regrets about wanting to become a mother.

She slowly shook her head and knelt down, ready to start her prayers for the day. As she did, thoughts broke into her mind, ones that had to be dealt with before she could concentrate. Last night had been... a disturbing one. She was in-tune with the planet in a way none of the other WEAPONs were. She had detected Tifa's Reunion call... and had been utterly horrified by it. Being directly manipulated by a Calamity couldn't be used to excuse Tifa anymore. Tifa... dear Tifa... had truly become a danger to the planet. Closing in on becoming as physically dangerous as Sephiroth, and even more virulently dangerous than a pure calamity. Even her desires to shun those abilities and distance herself from Jenova and Morbunova when she regained control of herself would only go so far in the eyes of the goddess. It truly left Aerith at a loss at what to do or think of her friend.

That wasn't the only thing that left her at a loss. She had seen through Gaia's eyes, had been watching from the moment Minerva had started screaming in her head. Thank heavens none of the other WEAPONs could directly hear her in a state of panic. Sephiroth... his actions had left Aerith in an utter stupor. If she hadn't seen it she never would have believed it. Sephiroth had tried to _comfort_ Tifa?! She thought perhaps it might have been an act of self-preservation, she had seen fear on his face for a brief moment. But even that wouldn't explain what she had seen at the end as Gaia turned its focus away. Sephiroth had been thumbing through her hair, numbly, almost on a reflex. As a woman watching that, she saw way to many implications there for her tastes, and she was really glad Cloud had no clue what had happened last night or he would have exploded.

Goddess forbid... was Sephiroth _interested_ in her? In _that_ way? Was that what all those intense stares had been for at the infirmary on the Highwind several weeks ago? Maybe she was misreading or something, but... if not... that was weird. And creepy, being interested in someone who you almost killed several times, whose hometown you had burned to the ground, and who also helped kill you, several times. Not to mention it was _scary_ for Tifa...

Aerith sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Tifa would have to handle herself for the time being. Sephiroth had offered to teach her to restrain her Reunion abilities, so there was really nothing to be done about Tifa's situation for the moment. Tifa _**HAD** _ to learn to restrain herself, otherwise... well... there was nothing more she could do to argue on her friend's behalf. Minerva would not allow such an unchecked danger to survive.

Aerith sighed one last time and began focusing on her prayers...

* * *

Cloud temporarily glanced towards Aerith off in the distance at her soft, frustrated sigh. "Hmmm."

"She's been doin that alot, ain't she Spikey?" said Zack, walking back carrying a huge clump of dirt and mud.

"Mhm," was Cloud's reply, following after him.

"A man of many words, aren't you Cloud," jested Angeal.

Cloud smirked. "Mhm."

He wasn't sure what to make of Angeal Hewely yet. It was so... strange... to see the Buster Sword on his back, and to see Zack so happy in the man's presence. He hadn't wanted to intrude, but... he was curious. He had to many gaps in his pre-Nibelheim memories, he felt he ought to know who Angeal was, but he didn't. The man was obviously important to Zack. Though, sometimes he thought he saw pain when the two of them looked at one another when the other wasn't watching. Something had obviously happened between them, but, Cloud figured it wasn't any of his business.

Angeal came off as a kind man. Serious at times, but capable of joking and playing around, though not as silly as Zack was when he did so. He hadn't sparred with the man yet, but he had seen Angeal and Zack go a round during a break a few days ago. Angeal was strong, powerful, but obviously rusty. Both of them were to be frank. Being dead for years would do that to someone he supposed.

He smirked. Guess he'd have to whip them into shape at some point.

They deposited their payloads into the crater and started back, Zack took a look around their vicinity and pointed to a cliff off in the distance. "Plenty of dirt and rocks with that one."

Cloud followed his finger and then flinched when he saw where Zack was pointing. "Oh..."

Zack turned his head, raising an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Umm... are you sure?" asked Cloud awkwardly.

Zack raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I be? It's just a cliff."

"It's where you died," whispered Cloud.

All emotion left Zack's face. "Oh."

Zack stared at the cliff for a few moments before starting towards it silently. Cloud could of kicked himself, he ought to have kept his mouth shut and just let them destroy the cliff and use it to fill in more of the Midgar Crater without word. Zack was alive, that place was nothing but a painful memory now, an old wound, it ought to vanish.

Cloud and Angeal walked behind Zack quietly, both of them exchanging uneasy looks. Zack leaped up, and they followed. Cloud saw the rocks he had hidden behind while Zack fought and died... damn Mako poisoning... he should have been there in that fight. He could have made a difference, and then with Zack alive, who knows how Meteorfall would have gone with the two of them? If they had taken a different route, had changed their course _By a Fraction of a Degree_... with Zack's _Tenacity_ , who knows what _The Difference One Life Makes_ would have been?

"Angeal... can I see the Buster for a sec?" asked Zack quietly, offering his own blade in return.

Angeal handed him the blade without a word, and Zack put it on his back. Cloud saw a glaze seem to come over Zack's eyes, as if he wasn't there anymore. Zack walked forward slowly, watching his feet until he found the spot he wanted and then looked up.

He put his hands on his hips and slowly shook his head. "Boy oh boy, the price of freedom is steep."

Slowly, Zack drew the Buster Sword from his back and gripped it two-handed in-front of him, pointing it into the sky as he bowed his head. "Embrace your dreams, and whatever happens, protect your honor as SOLDIER."

Cloud had a solid lump in his throat, and by the looks of it, so did Angeal. Zack hadn't moved, but, his muscles were flinching and tensing slightly in different directions. If Cloud had to guess... Zack was reliving his final battle. After he had recovered his memories, this one moment, when he had crawled to Zack and been entrusted as his legacy... he had seen the utter destruction, wreckage, and corpses Zack had left in that battle. Cloud half-closed his eyes and could practically watch it happen, each twitch was another enemy felled. Each stagger was another bullet taken.

Finally, when Zack suddenly fell to a knee, Cloud knew the fight was over; He walked over and silently put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "It should have been you who made it, not me."

Zack slowly shook his head, but didn't say anything.

"If it hadn't been for me slowing you down, you could have escaped, reached Aerith," said Cloud quietly.

Zack sighed and stood up. "Spikey..."

Before Cloud could react, Zack had his head under his armpit and was giving him a full force noogie. "How could have I possibly leave my adorable Chocobo head best friend behind?"

"Zack! Leggo!" wailed Cloud.

"Uh uh, no way, your being way to gloomy and moody and stuff, more than me and this is where I bit it," he scolded, "You, my spikey haired friend, are getting an extra special super noogie attack!"

God dammit! He was not a cadet anymore! Not to mention, WEAPON grade noogies _HURT_!

He tried scrambling out of it, failed, tried yanking Zack's arm off, failed, and yelled, "Angeal help!"

"Puppy, down," ordered Angeal playfully.

"Aww 'Geal...," whined Zack before letting Cloud go.

Cloud massaged his head, wincing. "Damn Zack..."

"What?" asked Zack with fake innocence.

Cloud shot him a dirty look.

Zack stretched for a moment before walking back to Angeal and exchanging swords. "Alright, let's wreck this cliff and get back to the patch job."

They started working in earnest. Cloud thought kept one eye on Zack the entire time. Despite how he had played it off and turned the focus back on Cloud, Zack smashed the terrain with a bit of barley concealed frustration and anger, and had a hint of pain in his eyes. It would be far better when this place was gone.

"Ya know, This entire area's gonna be totally flat when were done, won't be a hill or rock in sight," said Zack.

"Who knows, might make a good farmland if that's the case in a few hundred years," offered Cloud.

"I wouldn't eat any food grown on this god forsaken place," muttered Angeal.

Zack snorted with agreement.

"Okay, maybe leave it as a plains then, or plant a forest over it or something, I don't know," he muttered, "If I can come across this place in a hundred years and not recognize what it once was, then I don't care what it becomes."

Within the hour, the three of them had all but demolished the place and the memory, not to mention filled almost close to a sector size of the crater. Cloud was about to go for another patch of dirt before a sound caught his ears. The flapping of a wing off in the distance...

Cloud turned his head and narrowed his eyes, honing in. "Looks like Genesis has another one."

Zack and Angeal paused before changing directions. Most SOLDIERs that Genesis had 'taken', or rather, abducted, to them had been... moderately... civil in the process of being purged of Jenova. One though had flipped out completely and nearly stabbed Aerith when she was taken by surprise. They didn't take any chances after that incident. Usually though, a word from Hewely or Zack set them straight for some reason. It was more than apparent Hewely had held great respect in SOLDIER.

They closed in as Genesis began his descent, the SOLDIER in question appeared to be in WRO military clothing, complete with a helmet blocking his face, oh boy, this wasn't going to end well when Reeve found out. "Let me go dammit! I'm NOT being turned into one of your clones!"

Genesis scoffed and set him down. "I'd have better options if that was what I wanted to do with you."

"Wait a second," said Zack, "I know that voice."

Zack started running and waving his hands, a mad grin on his face. "Hey! Kunsel!"

The SOLDIER in question froze, Cloud didn't need to be able to see his face to detect the shock rocketing through the man. "Z-zack?!"

Zack reached him and slapped a hand on his shoulder. "Good to see your still alive man!"

Kunsel didn't respond, he simply leveled his helmet-stare right on Zack. "..."

"Uh... I think this is where you say 'good to see you too Zack'?" offered Zack.

_WHAM_

Cloud raised an eyebrow when Kunsel hit Zack, _hard_ , across his face. "You damn idiot!"

Zack winced. "Owww! What was that for Kunsel?!"

"We thought you were dead Zack!" exclaimed Kunsel, "It practically destroyed what good was left in SOLDIER when you were labeled KIA. Where the hell have you been hiding?"

Zack scratched the back of his head. "Well... I was dead Kuns. I got revived by the Goddess."

Kunsel was flabbergasted. "The... Goddess? What..."

Zack thumbed behind himself to Angeal. "Him too."

Kunsel shifted his gaze and gave a visible flinch before reflexively snapping to attention. "C-C-Commander Hewely!"

Angeal seemed amused. "At ease. I don't really hold rank anymore mind you."

Genesis snorted. "If only I still garnered that reaction."

Kunsel shot him a look. "You dug your own grave in that regard."

Genesis tilted his head in grim acknowledgement. "I suppose I did."

Kunsel's gaze changed back and forth between Zack and Angeal. "Revived by a Goddess, huh... weirder things have happened I suppose."

Zack hooked an arm around the back of Kunsel's head and started dragging him along. "I'll say. Anyway, c'mere, I want you to meet my girlfriend..."

"Fiancee," corrected Angeal.

"Gah! Angeal I wanted to surprise him!" whined Zack.

"Wait, she was revived too?" asked Kunsel.

Zack pointed to Aerith off in the distance. "Yep."

He paused. "You knew she was dead?"

Kunsel scoffed. "Zack, are you honestly surprised? I know practically _everything_."

Zack grinned. "Except that we were back."

Kunsel sighed. "Okay, except that. How long ago?"

"Few weeks," answered Zack.

"Well there you go, I just hadn't had enough time to learn it," defended Kunsel.

Zack had a winning smirk on his face. "Sure Kuns, whatever you say."

"Heeeeey Aerith! We got another one you gotta purge the space tick out of!" called out Zack.

Cloud coughed at that. "Space tick?!"

Angeal raised an eyebrow. "It's fairly accurate."

Cloud slowly shook his head in amusement and turned away from Zack and his friend, eyeing Genesis. The man in question was quick to avert his attention away and have his eyes follow Kunsel. Cloud was a bit... annoyed... with the man more than hateful or angry at him. It was more than obvious to Cloud that Genesis was at least feeling guilty and remorseful over whatever part he had played in Sephiroth's descent into madness. That spoke alot on his behalf considering most monsters in the world that had a human form were practically soulless in his opinion and wouldn't have given two shits about the chaos that resulted out of Nibelheim. Hojo, Scarlett, Heidegarr, and Rupert Shinra being prime, and thankfully dead, examples.

He just wanted to get a straight answer out of the man. He could live with being in the dark about whatever happened between Angeal and Zack, or on who exactly Angeal used to be. But Genesis and Nibelheim? No. Absolutely not. He of all people deserved the full truth in what happened there, especially from someone who had been 'apparently' intimately involved. Though, Cloud was still wracking his mind on when Genesis possibly could have popped up between the gaps of his and Zack's own imparted memories.

There was a flash of light off in the distance. Cloud briefly turned his head to see Kunsel stagger and collapse against Zack. Fairly strong reaction to having Jenova being purged out of his system. Might have been a 2nd or even a 1st class if he had to guess. Zack and Aerith helped him to his feet and led him back towards the rest of them.

Kunsel sat down on the ground. "Whew... that... really... takes a lot... out of you..."

Aerith giggled a little. "That it does."

"So, what... happens now?" asked Kunsel.

" _My friend, do you fly away?_ " quoted Genesis.

Kunsel gave him a blank look.

Genesis scowled. "I fly you back to where I picked you up from."

Kunsel went silent for a moment before turning, to Cloud's surprise, to him. "Before that... Mr. Strife."

Mr. Strife? "Cloud is fine," he offered, hating whenever someone called him Mr..

"Does... Mr. Tuesti know about all of this?" he asked warily, "Because I get the feeling he doesn't."

Cloud opened his mouth, and then promptly closed it. Ut oh...

Kunsel gave him a cross look. "Aren't you guys supposed to be working closely with the WRO? Exchanging information and helping out."

Cloud winced. "Yes..."

Kunsel pulled a phone out of his pocket, dialed a number, and raised it to the side of his helmet. "Mr. Tuesti? Yes, yes I'm fine. No, Genesis didn't... I... yes sir I... permission to interrupt?"

Zack looked like he was going to bust a gut laughing.

Kunsel spoke swiftly, "I have a certain Cloud here that is waiting to talk to you."

Kunsel listened for a moment before handing the phone to Cloud.

Cloud hesitated briefly before sighing and taking the phone and putting it to his eat. "Reeve."

" _Cloud. Why is there a crater where Midgar used to be_?" came Reeve's voice.

Cloud winced. "Well..."

" _Why do I have confirmation of Sephiroth being sighted without a word from you as warning_?" asked Reeve.

"Well...," he tried again.

" _And what happened in Edge? The last satellite image I got showed it having been burnt to the ground. Cloud, what is going on?!_ " demanded Reeve.

"Well..." he tried for the third time.

" _And why in the world did you have one of my men kidnapped by Genesis Rhapsodos of all people? Your working with him all of the sudden?_ " exclaimed Reeve.

" _Reeve..._ ," Cloud began, slightly raising his voice.

" _Cloud, your supposed to work with me, trust me, and..._ n _o, actually, forget it. I don't have time for this. I have a meeting with the Rufus and the Turks to prepare for. You, Cloud, can get over here and tell me in person what the hell is going on_ ," said Reeve.

Cloud paused at that. Reeve was meeting with Rufus? That usually wasn't a good sign, even if the president had 'reformed'. Cloud suddenly had a very sinking feeling that the meeting had something to do with either Sephiroth, what happened at Midgar, or both.

He slowly shook his head. "Alright Reeve, I'll be there at some point."

" _Good_ ," said Reeve.

_CLICK._

Cloud winced and handed the phone back to Kunsel. "He's... not in a good mood. Apparently I need to go pay him a visit."

"How about we all go?" chimed in Zack, "No offense Aerith, but, we've been doing this for a few weeks straight. We need a vaaacaaatiiiooon!"

Aerith rolled her eyes. "Sure you do Zack."

"I seem to recall you being able to go months without any need of a day off, let alone a vacation," observed Angeal.

"Ah c'mon 'Geal!" whined Zack.

"It's fine, besides, it's important that we go," said Aerith, "I think Reeve deserves to know whats going on. Besides..."

She giggled. "I'd like to actually meet the man being the moogle for once. Does he even still use Cait Sith?"

Cloud shook his head. "Not to my knowledge, he just doesn't have the time anymore."

"Well, I can call us a helicopter...," began Kunsel.

Zack shook his head and grinned. "Hey Kuns, watch this!"

Zack threw a hand to his side and his wing extended out from under is clothes. Kunsel went rigged at the sight. Cloud was moderately surprised the man's jaw wasn't crashing out of the helmet.

"I got Aerith, Angeal's got Cloud, Genesis's will take you back," said Zack.

Kunsel groaned. "Not his flying again..."

Genesis's lips curled. "Oh? Was something wrong with my 'driving'?"

Kunsel tilted his head towards Genesis in what Cloud imagined was a hidden glare. "Yes."

Cloud decided to force Genesis's hand. "How about we swap then?"

Kunsel jumped on the offer, walking over to Angeal. "Yes please."

Genesis winced at that, but said nothing.

Zack picked Aerith up bridal style and flew into the air. "Let's goooooo!"

Angeal slowly shook his head in amusement, released his wing, grabbed Kunsel's shoulders, and took after Zack.

Cloud walked up to Genesis and spoke thinly. "We need to talk."

Genesis sighed. "I suppose we do."

Genesis grabbed Cloud by his shoulders and started flying after the others. "Speak, Gaia's Champion."

Cloud scowled. "I have a name you know."

" _There is no hate, only joy, for you are beloved by the goddess, hero of the dawn, healer of world_ ," quoted Genesis.

"I would have preferred remaining a cadet and maybe getting a second shot at the SOLDIER exams then watching my home get burned down, being experimented on for years, losing Zack and Aerith, then fighting Sephiroth over and over again to become the 'hero'. Let someone else have that title," said Cloud with disdain.

Genesis chuckled softly. "I suppose that's what differentiates us, Cloud. I wanted that title, never got it. You never wanted it, and had it forced on you."

Cloud sighed. "Genesis... what happened in Nibelheim?"

"First, allow me a question. I know that you bested Sephiroth in Nibelheim, where were you? I never recalled seeing you there," asked Genesis.

"I was one of the Shinra Troopers in full uniform," replied Cloud.

Genesis snorted. "Wait, the one guarding the guide at the reactor?"

Cloud nodded.

Genesis scoffed. "The great Sephiroth, beaten by an _unenhanced trooper_ , I can see why he's been obsessed over you."

Cloud glared up at him.

"While you were busy outside, I went in to 'talk' with Sephiroth and Zackery," began Genesis.

Cloud frowned. Genesis went inside? But... the memory he had of Zacks didn't...

Hrm...

Maybe the memory was wrong then, or just incomplete and spotty...

"It will sound petty, but, I will speak my memory of the moment," said Genesis, "Of perhaps the worst damage I did to the world, in under five minutes time..."

* * *

_Genesis stood to the side of the door into the inner Nibelhiem reactor, sneaking a glance as Sephiroth and Zackery took turns looking into one of the Mako pods in the Nibelheim reactor, studying their reactions._

_"Ugh! What is that?" said Zack with disbelief._

_"You average SOLDIER members are mako-infused humans. You're enhanced, but you're still human. But then... what are those things? Their mako energy levels are exponentially higher than yours," stated Sephiroth._

_To Zack, that voice might have sounded normal, but to Genesis, he felt the beginning of a tremor in Sephiroth's voice. How fascinating, was the 'great' general Sephiroth troubled by the monsters? Troubled by the truth infront of his face. Ha..._

_"Are they... monsters?" questioned Zack._

_Genesis's eyes went wide with glee. Oh Zackery, what a question to ask._

_Sephiroth stepped away from the pod, his tone growing a little sullen. "Yes. The Shinra scientist Hojo was the one who created them."_

_He turned to level his gaze at Zack. "Abominations spawned by mako energy... That's what monsters are."_

_Genesis slowly shook his head and thought: Oh dear Sephiroth, what then did that make of you? Of us? Of Angeal? Pumped full of Mako and Jenova as we are?_

_"You said 'average' member. What about you?" questioned Zack._

_Genesis raised an eyebrow and shifted, risking to peek around the door to watch. That question, oh how he desired to see Sephiroth's reaction. Did Zackery have any clue just what kind of questioned he had asked? The arrow has left the bow of the Goddess indeed._

_Genesis's eyes went wide to see Sephiroth stiffen and stagger away, hands reaching up to clutch his his head. Genesis tensed, hearing a faint murmur in the back of his head. So... the mother monster stirred and reached out to her son... this could be interesting, and potentially, just what he needed._

_Zack rushed over and put a hand on Sephiroth's shoulder. "H-hey Sephiroth!"_

_Sephiroth threw Zack off of him. "C-could it be... that I... was created the same way?"_

_Genesis's lips curled in amusement. And now the truth was realized..._

_"Am I the same as these monsters?" questioned Sephiroth._

_Genesis closed his eyes, resisting the urge to sigh as it would give him away. Finally, at long last, Sephiroth had asked the question out-loud that he and Angeal had asked themselves. It was almost time, for one monster to seek the aid of another._

_"I knew, ever since I was a child, I was not like the others. I knew mine was a special existence," said Sephiroth._

_Genesis rolled his eyes._

_"But this... this was not what I meant," said Sephiroth shakily._

_Sephiroth held up his own hands, a bit of despair in his voice. "Am I... a human being?"_

_It was time, Genesis stepped through the doorway and flew into the air. "No such luck. You are a monster."_

_Genesis released a blast to know Zack out of the way and give Sephiroth a 'friendly greeting'._

_"Sephiroth, you were the greatest monster created by the Jenova Project," explained Genesis, forcing his voice to be monotone this one time as he landed on the steps._

_"Genesis... so you are alive!" said Zack painfully._

_Genesis turned to face Zack, scowling. "I suppose I am, if you can call this living."_

_"What is the Jenova Project?" demanded Sephiroth, turning to half-face Genesis, as if he couldn't bare to ask, but at the same time, couldn't bear not to._

_"The Jenova Project... was the term used for all experiments... relating to the use of Jenova's cells," answered Genesis._

_Sephiroth's eyebrows furrowed, and his voice became hoarse. "My mother's... cells?"_

_Genesis could hear the whisper echoing in his mind again, not for him, but for Sephiroth, once again he was ignored, even if he did not want that things aid, it bled out into his words, "Poor little Sephiroth. You've never actually met your mother. You've only been told her name, no?"_

_He sat down on the steps and prepared to enact his plan. "I don't know what images you've conjured up in your head, but..."_

_"Genesis, no!" gasped out Zack._

_"Jenova! Was excavated from a 2000-year old rock layer. She's a monster," said Genesis, purring out the last word._

_Sephiroth staggered back, looking utterly lost and devastated. He could hear the voice whispering again, plaguing it's chosen child. Now was the time!_

_"Sephiroth... I need your help. My body is continuing to degrade. SOLDIER 1st Class Sephiroth! Jenova Project G gave birth to Angeal... and monsters like myself. Jenova project S... used the remains of countless failed experiments to create a perfect monster," said Genesis._

_"What do you want of me?" demanded Sephiroth bitterly._

_"Your traits cannot be copied unto others. Your genes can't be diffused. Therefore, your body cannot degrade. Share your cells with me. My friend, your desire...," began Genesis._

_Now... time for the final touch, the offering, from one monster to another..._

_He held out a Banora Apple to Sephiroth, "...is the bringer of life, the gift of the goddess."_

_Sephiroth turned to face him, momentarily looking toward's Jenova's door. "Whether your words... are lies created to deceive me... or the truth, that I have sought all my life..."_

_Yes... yes!_

_"It makes no difference," continued Sephiroth._

_Wait... what?_

_Sephiroth slapped the apple of Genesis's hands and spoke viciously, "You **will** rot."_

_Genesis felt hollowed. Had his miscalculated? Or... perhaps... was this simply the fate of a monster? To be abandoned and cast aside by a more... perfect monster?_

_"I see... perfect monster, indeed," said Genesis faintly.  
_

_With one last sigh, he left the reactor and flew away..._

* * *

Cloud frowned, mulling over Genesis's words. So that was it... the part he was missing out of Nibelheim. At this point... he really didn't know whether to pity Sephiroth or not. He hadn't just been going insane. Genesis had made it perfectly clear Jenova had been working to weaken Sephiroth's will, and Genesis certainly hadn't helped Sephiroth's sanity either. Yet...

"Why?" asked Cloud, "Why did you go after Sephiroth like that? What did you mean by your body was degrading?"

"My body was literally tearing itself apart at the cellular level in a battle between my Jenova cells and my human ones. My mind became addled, by body weakened and aged. My hair began turning gray. I was dying and desperate. Even with degradation plaguing my judgement... there was no excuse for what I did. _No honor remains_ ," said Genesis heavily.

Cloud absorbed the information before turning to another point he Genesis had said, one that couldn't be ignored. "You said that Angeal was also a part of the Jenova Project?"

Genesis nodded. "He was the same type of Jenova spawn that I was, but, more complete and properly breed rather than simply injected with cells. He did not degrade to my knowledge, but, the truth in the matter of his birth destroyed him, made him lose control and become just as mentally ' _sound_ ' as the rest of us. He ended up committing suicide by puppy."

Cloud's eyes went wide. "Puppy? You mean Zack?!"

"Indeed," answered Genesis, "I blame myself. I never should have told Angeal the truth. Without Angeal, SOLDIER was without honor, and without the two of us on Sephiroth's side, he was left alone to his dear ' _mother's_ ' tender mercies."

Shinra... what the hell was it with with them and creating mentally unstable super soldiers? One went insane and started a copy war. One went insane and made his own student kill him. The final one went insane and tried to destroy the world. Was he supposed to hate or pity those three? Was there honestly an answer to that question? It's a question that never should have been asked because Shinra had done what should never have been done, had awakened something that should have been forever left to sleep. Rupert Shinra and Professor Hojo, they could die a million times over and never have paid enough for their crimes.

"So, Gaia's Champion, what is your verdict? Am I a monster to be hated? Off with my head?" asked Genesis with dry amusement.

Cloud sighed. "Genesis... I'm to tired to hate anyone anymore."

Genesis looked down at him, eyebrow raised. "Not... exactly the response I predicted."

Cloud shook his head. "Everything in this world is so convoluted. Back then, before and during Meteorfall, it was so easy just to hate everything. Sephiroth, Shinra, Hojo... but... the more I learned, the more I realized how little choice, how little chance for normal lives those involved even had."

He gave a bitter laugh. "Can I honestly be surprised that Nibelheim turned out how it did? That Sephiroth went crazy? What chance did he even have against you, Jenova, Hojo, and Shinra all going against him at once?"

"No more of a chance than Tifa did," murmured Cloud sullenly, "And unless I want to hate and blame her, can I honestly feel the same towards him without being a hypocrite?"

Genesis chuckled softly and sadly. " _My friend, the fates are cruel_. When tragedy strikes close to home against those you care about, it changes ones perspectives, doesn't it?"

"Hmph. Life is just one great tragedy if you ask me. There's no winners, only victims," Cloud murmured, "Everyone is in some way a loser in all of this."

He frowned. "Save for Jenova. That thing deserves every ounce of hate it gets. Every major sin in this world can almost be traced back to that thing. Of that, I'm certain."

Genesis nodded slowly. "Heaven's dark harbinger indeed, a Calamity of which no one was spared. Even now with her all but killed, she still plagues us by having drawn in her kin."

He sighed. "For what little it's worth Cloud, I am sorry about what happened."

"Apology accepted," Cloud answered, "At least you gave one."

Genesis snorted. "Would you even accept Sephiroth's if he so deigned to give his?"

Cloud smirked. "I think I'd just walk away and leave him in suspense."

Genesis gave a laugh. "Oh wouldn't that ruffle his feathers. Being ignored is not something Sephiroth ever took well."

They shared a chuckle at that before growing silent, hearing nothing but the flapping of wings and the faint conversations of the others...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might have made a not-so-subtle references to three Fanfics where Zack survived his final battle (or not even fought it), 'By a Fraction of a Degree', 'Tenacity' and 'The Difference One Life Makes'. If yer lookin for an okay FF7 Zack fic one of those can work.


	12. Catch Up

Aerith watched as the WRO headquarters located on the north eastern tip of the Eastern Continent finally came into view. It's structure faintly reminder her of Shinra HQ, but, without the ominous feeling and the stench of pollution in the air. The group landed at the front door, and the flyers set down their passengers.

Kunsel walked to the door, giving a brief nod to the soldiers on duty. "I'm taking them to Mr. Tuesti."

They saluted and opened the door for them. Aerith gave them a brief smile and followed the group. She couldn't help but notice as the entire group shifted to keep her in the middle, protected. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Some things would never really change.

She kept her eyes open as they waded through the building. Unlike Shinra, the employees here didn't seem to be in a daze, dead to the world, keeping their head down fearfully and just trying to survive to the next paycheck. There was no mad scientists to be afraid of making them disappear and become experiments. No psycho leaders like Scarlet or Mr. Gyahahah to be worried about crossing paths with. The people here seems content in what they were doing, happy to be trying to help make the world a better place. If only Shinra had been like this from the get go, the world would have been a lot better off than it is now.

They were led deep into the building, to a conference room, Kunsel opened the door and waved them in. Aerith was a bit surprised that Reeve wasn't the only one there. In fact... there were actually a lot of people there, most of them Shinra...

Reeve sat at the front of the table, looking over a number of pictures in front of him. Next to him, papers sprawled out infront, was Rufus Shinra, with Tseng and Elena standing a bit behind him, hands professionally behind their backs. On the other side of Reeve was an older man that vaguely seemed familiar... she knew she had seen him somewhere before, years ago... wait a minute...

Verdot.

Veld Verdot.

Former head of the old guard Turks. Why in the world was he here?

Behind him, mirroring Tseng and Elena were another pair of old guard Turks. One she vaguely recognized as Cissnei, the other was a blonde man with sunglasses and an unlit cigar sticking out of his mouth. That Turk had a dark and deadly aura about him that put Aerith on edge. He reeked of death, more so than most Turks she had ever met in her life.

The final member of the table was a middle-aged brown-haired blue-eyed white-cloaked woman in what looked like a strange green military garb. She also tickled a memory, but, it was even fainter than Veld's. There was something odd about her. Aerith hesitated momentarily as the others entered the room before subtly tapping into Holy and using the its power to analyze the woman. There was... a strange fluctuation in the lifestream within the woman's body. An echo of an immensely powerful presence that used to reside in her...

" _The former host of Zirconiade, The One Who Will Burn The World_ ," Minerva whispered into Aerith's mind.

Aerith's eyes widened slightly before she controlled herself. She had learned much in her time in the lifestream. Zirconiade was an entity that was _NOT_ meant to be on the living world until the day of judgement when it was time for Omega to leave to find a new world.

" _Indeed, we had to intentionally weaken Zirconiade for the humans to defeat, lest the world perish and the lifestream die_ ," whispered Minerva.

The occupants of the room stopped their talking and browsing of pictures and files to stare at the newcomers. Reeve... didn't look happy. She also noticed he didn't look surprised to see her, Zack, or Angeal. That was curious...

"Thank you Kunsel, you may leave. The rest of you save for Genesis, take a seat. You Genesis can stand, I don't appreciate my employees being kidnapped," said Reeve, his voice thin.

"Tsk," said Genesis, leaning against the wall near the door after Kunsel left.

"Heya Ciss!" said Zack, waving to Cissnei.

Aerith's eyes briefly flickered to the woman. She did not acknowledge Zack, and intentionally kept her gaze away from him. Aerith however caught a glimpse of pain, and a lot of anger, frustration, and especially sadness and grief in her eyes. Aerith didn't know much about the woman, but, Zack must have meant something to her. She wasn't one to be jelous, but she'd ask about her later, and maybe tease Zack while she was at it.

"Er...," murmured Zack, appearing a little unsettled.

Reeve turned to the blonde sunglasses Turk and held out a number of photos. "Legend, if you would?"

Legend? Aerith had never heard of that Turk before.

Legend smirked, grabbed the photos, and walked them over to Cloud. He set a cluster of them down, one group of photos at a time. Aerith leaned forward to get a look at them as well.

The first set was a picture of them working to seal the Midgar Crater, followed by individual close ups of each one of the newly revived human WEAPONs. Aerith was a bit curious how they got those photos. No one had been close to them that Aerith had saw or felt, could camera's really zoom that far and be that clear these days?

The second set was a picture of Sephiroth and Tifa walking through a town. There were a number of other photos of the two. Several focused on capturing just how much Tifa had physically changed, a snapshot of her hair, her eyes, and her wing. There were also several pictures of them sparing with one another.

The next set was an overview of the destroyed city of Edge, including makeshift gravestones that Cloud had gone to set up every now and then during the last few weeks. The pictures clearly showed the destruction, and plenty of blood-splatters that made Aerith's stomach twist.

The final set kind of impressed Aerith. It was pictures of the battleground at the Mideel mako lake. Somehow the Turks had learned of what happened there, or at least figured there had been a battle. Two photos were taped together, a before and after of the height of the Mako lake.

"Someones been keeping secrets," said Legend with a smirk and a glint in his eyes.

Cloud shot him a look. "Watch it Turk."

Legend merely smirked before taking back the photo's and returning to his origional position.

Reeve cleared his throat. "Cloud. Are we not friends? Co-workers? Working to better and restore the planet?"

Cloud leveled his gaze. "I'm a glorified delivery boy for Strife-Delivery-Service, restoring the world is your job."

"Was," said Zack with amusement, "You kinda joined in by helping patch up the crater."

Cloud shot him a look. "Not helping Zack."

"Don't even tried to dodge the question Cloud. You should have contacted me! I was completely left in the dark about something so extremely critical! Rufus of all people, no offense Mr. President, was the one who came and filled me in on what he had discovered," scolded Reeve.

"Aerith Gainsborough, Zack Fair, and Angeal Hewely brought back to life. Genesis Rhapsodos returning to the stage, without his degradation. Sephiroth once again returning. Tifa somehow being transformed into what looks like a remnant or a Sephiroth clone. Edge destroyed, and whatever the hell happened at Mideel, I assume it has to do with the 'new Jenova' that Rufus was clued in about. Our lifestream readings on the day that Edge was destroyed sent the Lifestream Management Department into a state of permanent panic, they were down over fifty percent from their last readings!" exclaimed Reeve.

"Damn... over fifty percent?" muttered Zack, "It really took a lot to bring us back and fight off the space tick."

"Don't interrupt," scolded Reeve.

He turned back to Cloud. "Do I need to go on Cloud?"

Cloud sighed. "Reeve... look, I'm sorry, okay? A lot happened in not a lot of time. It never occurred to me to clue you in after it was all said and done. I had a lot on my mind."

Reeve sighed and rubbed his forehead. "That's no excuse to..."

"Enough," interrupted Veld, "Otherwise were going to be here all day. Strife, full report on what happened."

Cloud blinked a few times. "Who the hell are you, Turk?"

Rufus coughed. "That, Cloud, would be Veld Verdot, former leader of the Turks prior to Tseng. It's not a wise idea to disrespect him."

Cloud frowned and studied Veld. "Is that so? Where were you during Meteorfall?"

"Aiding in the evacuation of Midgar if you must know," answered Veld dryly, "Be thankful we were retired during and proceeding the crisis, otherwise you and your group wouldn't have made it far."

Cloud narrowed his eyes, but before he could say anything Aerith put a hand on his shoulder. "Cloud... were not here to fight."

Cloud sighed and scratched the back of his head before beginning to speak, "I was returning to Edge after taking a walk when I was attacked by Sephiroth. We dueled briefly before the rest of AVALANCHE began to arrive one by one, apparently Sephiroth had alerted them in order to draw them into the fight. Barret was disarmed, Tifa almost killed, and Vincent was killed by Sephiroth before the fight was interrupted."

Veld narrowed his eyes. "Vincent is dead?"

"Not for long, he was revived," answered Cloud.

Aerith spoke up. "A meteor fell on Midgar. Inside the lifestream, Minerva and I had to divert focus from the battle in order to brace for the impact. If the meteor had hit full force, it would have been just as devastating as the one that made the Northern Crater, and would have probably made the Eastern Continent largely uninhabitable."

"Minerva?" questioned Veld, "As in the so-called Goddess?"

Genesis growled. "There is no 'so-called' about it, Turk. Minerva IS the Goddess of Gaia. She is the avatar of the planet itself. She's the one that healed me of my degradation, and the one that revived the others. She is due far more respect than you, Turk."

Veld studied Genesis briefly before barley nodding in acknowledgement. "I suppose a real deity would be due some respect."

"Please, continue," interrupted Reeve.

Cloud cleared his throat. "After the meteor hit, I felt a presence in my mind that felt similar to Jenova. Sephiroth felt it too and abandoned the fight to chase off after it. I left Barret to take care of Tifa and pursued him with Nanaki, Cid, and Yuffie. When we arrived, we found another Calamity from the Skies feeding on Mako bleeding out of the wound the crater had left."

Reeve slowly shook his head. "Another Jenova... I'm going to have to interrupt, please tell me it's dead, otherwise I'm going to have a stroke."

Cloud nodded. "It is."

Reeve leaned back in his chair and sighed heavily.

"The Calamity called itself Morbunova. It and Sephiroth argued for a bit, something about only the strongest having the right to consume the planet, and fought," said Cloud.

"So, Sephiroth was not allied with the new Calamity?" clarified Tseng.

Cloud nodded. "To be honest, he later said that he felt compelled, as if it were instinctual, to fight it."

Tseng seemed thoughtful. "Interesting, and important to note."

Cloud crossed his arms. "The Calamity attempted to use Reunion and take control of both myself and Sephiroth. We fought Reunion off and fought together against the Calamity."

"Wait, you and Sephiroth fought _TOGETHER_?" exclaimed Reeve.

"It's not what I imagined I'd be doing when I woke up that day," said Cloud dryly.

"Sephiroth temporarily sealed the crater off to prevent the Calamity from continuing to feed off the Mako," continued Cloud, "The Calamity spawned a monster to stall us and ran afterwards..."

Cloud trailed off, a pained look on his face. "..."

Aerith took pity on him and took over. "Morbunova came across Tifa and Barret. Neither of them were in condition to fight it. It knocked Barret out and infected Tifa. It poured through her mind and memories before trying to re-create Sephiroth using her body. It... destroyed and replaced her memories with lies. While Cloud and the others pursued Morbunova... Tifa's infection and transformation completed. She..."

Aerith sighed. "She burned Edge to the ground and killed everyone in it."

There was a heavy silence.

Tseng cleared his throat. "I haven't been able to get in contact with Reno and Rude. I already assumed the worst, but..."

"They're dead," said Aerith quietly, "I watched Tifa kill them from the lifestream."

Tseng held his composure well, but there was very real grief emanating from him and plaguing his eyes. "I see."

Tseng turned to gaze coldly at Cloud. "I'll be clear in voicing my displeasure of not being alerted to the status of my men."

"It wasn't Tifa's fault...," began Cloud.

Tseng held up a hand. "I am not assigning blame Strife. I merely wished to know the fate of my men. Aerith said Lockheart's memories were wiped, and I believe her. I have a full personality profile on Lockheart, she would not have harmed a hair on a child's head without something so drastic happening."

"Though, I hope you have an proper explanation prepared of why she's roaming freely," he added in.

"We do," said Aerith quietly, "It'll come later on."

"The Calamity escaped us and returned to Edge to pick up Tifa and infect the corpses of the cityfolk," said Cloud, his voice heavy, "It flew off afterwords to Mideel. We pursued them. It... threw their corpses into the lake to infect the lifestream..."

"Good gods..." murmured Reeve.

"Umm Cloud, I should interrupt here," said Aerith, "A lot happened in the lifestream while you were flying."

Cloud nodded. "Okay."

Aerith cleared her throat. "Minerva and the planet were in a state of panic after Tifa was infect and it became clear just how dangerous the new Calamity actually was, and what its arrival meant. It had spoken to Cloud and Sephiroth of something called a 'Death Call' that had been sent into space when Jenova had died. This call apparently draws other Calamities to it."

There was a deathly silence in the room.

"So then, were assuming that there are more, potentially many more, of these things out there?" asked Zirconiade's former host.

Aerith nodded and decided to lie-slightly to get a question answered. "Yes. Umm... miss... what's your name? I feel like we've met before."

"Elfe," said the woman, "Or Felicia Verdot, I answer to either. We... briefly met in your church. I'm surprised you remember me."

"You had an old voice echoing from your body, it left an impression," said Aerith quietly.

Elfe briefly stiffened before nodding. "I see."

Cloud gave Aerith and then Elfe a curious look, but they both ignored him.

Aerith picked up where she had left off. "Feeling she had no other choice, Minerva decided to take maters into her own hands to try and handle the crisis and prepare for further Calamities. She revived Vincent and merged him with Chaos and then had him fly to the Forgotten Capital. He retrieved the Holy Materia and my body from the lake. Minerva had him insert Holy into my heart and revived me, transforming me into her Holy WEAPON."

Tseng blinked a few times. "WEAPON? Forgive me, but..."

She smiled. "No, I'm not a towering monster. The WEAPONs of old were useless every time they were called, both during Jenova's original arrival, and during Meteorfall. Minerva desired... different... kinds of WEAPONs. One's that could think and act for themselves on the planet's behalf, with different functionalities and purpose. Vincent, myself, Zack, and Angeal were all revived and transformed into human-hybrid weapons."

She reflected briefly. "Well... I'm a human-cetra-weapon hybrid I guess."

She turned towards Genesis. "He was Minerva's first attempt at creating a hybrid WEAPON, the first of us upon which she created her template."

Tseng cleared his throat. "You specifically were infused with the Holy Materia. What exactly does that imply?"

Aerith hesitated. "Truth be told... I'm not exactly sure. I can call upon the power of Holy because, simply put, I _AM_ Holy. I haven't exactly experimented to see what other changes Minerva gave me. I've been more concerned with sealing the wounds to the planet."

Tseng nodded, but said nothing else.

"Is that a wise use of time?" asked Elfe, "Training your power and seeing what your capable of before another Calamity shows up might be a better option."

Aerith hesitated. "Maybe... but... the Calamity's appear to be drawn to Mako, and feed off it, empowering them. Sealing off open wounds is also important."

Elfe tilted her head in acknowledgement. "Point taken, but, that can be done without using your time."

"Not if the lifestream is to be properly threaded into the wound to properly heal it," Aerith countered.

"Ladies...," said Veld.

Elfe shot her father an annoyed look, but went silent.

Aerith resumed speaking, "After we were all revived, we began flying towards Mideel where Cloud and Sephiroth were fighting Morbunova and Tifa. Cloud?"

Cloud sighed. "Morbunova and Tifa had been feeding off the Mako, empowering both of them. Tifa had gained enough mako to fight either Sephiroth or myself head on."

That statement put a lot of the Turks on edge.

"Sephiroth fought the Calamity while I fought Tifa. Neither of us did particularly well, and... I couldn't bring myself to fight her anywhere near close to my full strength. Sephiroth forced us to switch. I didn't see a lot of their fight, but, both Sephiroth and Tifa messed eachother up, badly. I caught a glimpse of the end of their fight, Tifa took his limit break and then hit him with her own, including a new Calamity infused addition to it, and defeated Sephiroth" said Cloud.

"She _BEAT_ him?!" exclaimed Reeve.

There was open shock on almost all of the Turk's, and Rufus's face.

"I don't know how, I can't give a play by play, but I did hear Sephiroth cry out in surprise at one point, so I figure she took him off-guard with something. He's always been arrogant, it's one of the reason's I usually come out on top when we fight even if he was winning for the majority of our battle," said Cloud.

"That's besides the point," said Tseng, his voice showing a hint of stress, "That there is another Sephiroth-grade entity on the planet is considerably alarming."

Cloud sighed. "She's not a threat, okay?"

Aerith did her best not to flinch or give anything away at those words. What she had felt with Tifa's Reunion last night clearly argued against that, as much as she didn't want it to.

Cloud continued speaking, "Genesis arrived at that point and stopped Tifa from killing him. He engaged Tifa while myself and Sephiroth fought the Calamity. We double-teamed hard, overwhelming it until Tifa interrupted..."

"Sorry for not keeping her on a tighter leash by the way," said Genesis.

Cloud shot him a look before resuming, "And then it dove into the Mako lake, absorbing a lot of the infected Mako and growing insanely powerful. I had never fought something that powerful before. It... destroyed both me and Sephiroth. I was knocked out of the fight at that point, took a claw through my chest. If Zack and Angeal hadn't arrived at that point, both of us would have died."

"I stand corrected," murmured Elfa, "Sealing the wounds is a very high priority if that's how strong it can get."

Aerith couldn't help but smirk at that a little smugly.

"Angeal, Sephiroth, and Genesis fought the Calamity while Zack held off Tifa. I'll admit... seeing all three of them fight alongside each other was something else," said Cloud, "The Calamity was stronger than any one of them, and could regenerate it's wounds almost instantly, but, it didn't seem to fight well against multiple strong opponents. It couldn't properly adapt to it."

Tseng took out a notebook and jotted down a note. "That would be an important thing to remember then."

Cloud nodded. "Vincent arrived a bit after in the form of Chaos and barreled into the fight. Aerith arrived as well, asked us to guard her, and began to pray. While Vincent, Sephiroth, Angeal, and Genesis fought the Calamity, Tifa caught sight of Aerith and panicked. She rushed at us. It took all of us to delay her long enough for Aerith to finish her prayers."

Aerith took over. "I inserted all the memories of Tifa's real life I could get from the lifestream into her head and knocked her out. I then unleashed the full power of Holy on the Calamity, attempting to seal it away. Sephiroth however suggested we launch it into the sun. I fed the tainted lifestream into the Calamity to purge its influence from the planet, then we all combined our efforts to blast it into space. Afterwords, we made a truce with Sephiroth and took Tifa to the Highwind, and began transplanting other's memories of her into her head to try to fill in the gaps."

Reeve frowned. "If her memory was restored... then why is she with Sephiroth?"

"Guilt if I had to guess," said Aerith, "It ate away at her, made her think she was a monster. Not to mention, she has two warring lifetimes worth of memories in her head even though she knows which one is the real one."

"Or, she left because Vincent is an idiot," muttered Cloud.

Veld raised an eyebrow. "Elaborate."

"Tifa woke up in the middle of the night and left with Sephiroth. Vincent, who was on watch, didn't bother to stop them from leaving," said Cloud crossly.

Veld frowned briefly. "Hmm... Vincent rarely does anything without a reason."

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "You say that as if you know him."

Veld grew amused. "We used to be partners."

Cloud blinked a few times. "Oh."

"So then, that's the gist of it?" asked Reeve.

Cloud nodded. "Yes."

Reeve sighed. "So, to summarize: A city wiped out. Tifa infected and changed. A truce of all things with Sephiroth. A lot of heroes revived. And were assuming more of these Calamities are on the way."

Cloud nodded. "Yeah that about sums it out."

Tseng seemed thoughtful. "Such a roster that we now have seems to heavily tilt the scales in our favor, especially if Sephiroth holds true to this truce and continues to fight off other Calamities."

Aerith slowly shook her head. "The Calamities cannot under any circumstance be underestimated, Tseng."

Tseng nodded. "Of course."

"Do we have any clue when more will be arriving?" asked Reeve.

Aerith shook her head. "No. Minerva only felt its arrival when it approached the atmosphere. We have no clue about the time-frame for any others arriving. It could be days, weeks, months, years..."

"Or even centuries or millenniums," said Reeve crossly, "We need to start thinking longterm. Cid and I have discussed space travel in the past. It takes a long time to fly through space, even on the back of a meteor. None of us are going to be around in a hundred years or so, we need fail-safes and plans in place to..."

Aerith cleared her throat. "WEAPONs do not age."

Reeve visibly paused, a surprised look on his face. "You... won't age?"

Aerith shook her head. "No. We're here for the long haul, permanent guardians of the planet. Even if we die, Minerva will most likely resurrect us when she has enough lifestream available to do so. For that matter, neither will Cloud, Sephiroth, or Tifa age with the Calamity cells inside of them."

Tseng hesitated. "It may be prudent to see then if more WEAPONs could be made. I... do not wish to impose, or force the hand of you or the Goddess, but, if she is looking for more WEAPONs, she might wish to ask Reno and Rude."

Aerith closed her eyes painfully. "Tseng... I'm sorry... they were infected by the Calamity. The tainted lifestream that was fed into him... they were part of it. They're... gone..."

Tseng closed his eyes and sighed heavily. "I... see..."

"I'm sorry," she whispered again.

" _Whom we choose to make into a WEAPON is not based on the_ _desires_ _of mortals_ ," murmured Minerva in her head.

" _Don't be rude"_ , scolded Aerith, " _He's grieving_."

Minerva ignored her. " _However, on the note of further WEAPONs... he may have a point, but not in the manner he is thinking. Each WEAPON must have a purpose and an identity. There is only one among them that we would choose to take up the mantle, and not in a way that relates to the rest of you_."

" _What do you mean_?" asked Aerith.

" _We wish to speak to one we would choose, may we use you as our conduit_?" asked Minerva.

Aerith hesitated at that.

"Aerith? Is something wrong?" asked Tseng, noting the look on her face.

"Minerva wishes to speak," she murmured.

Reeve seemed startled. "The Goddess wishes to speak to us?"

"To one of you," clarified Aerith, "Tseng apparently gave her an idea."

Rufus, who had been silent up to this point, waved his hands. "By all means, we give the floor to the Goddess."

Aerith closed her eyes, sighed, and relaxed her mind. " _Do as you wish Goddess_."

Aerith felt the Goddess take control of her body, her eyes opening and shining a deep blue before Minerva had her turn to face Elfe. "Child whom once bore The One Who Would Burn The World."

Efle gave a start. "She... you can talk through the Ancient?"

Minerva ignored the question. "You once used the power of the World Burner in an attempt to fight for us, though your actions and allies were... questionable in nature."

Efle frowned and crossed her arms. "I don't regret forming AVALANCHE, we did what we thought we had to do."

Cloud gave her a surprised look. "You formed AVALANCHE?"

Minerva held up a hand for silence before leveling Aerith's gaze on Elfe. "We would not force your hand, but, you are most adapted to Zirconiade's presence. If you agreed to it, we would bestow upon you the position as _The One Who Will Burn the World_."

Wait, **_WHAT_**?! Was Minerva thinking what Aerith thought she was thinking? Zirconiade having a physical presence on the world, even through a host, was incredibly dangerous!

Elfe glared at her. "I'm not interested in having that life-leeching materia stuck in my hand again, no thanks."

Minerva shook her head. "You misunderstand. You would not bear the World Burner, you would become her, merge with her."

"I'm not interested in losing who I am, find some other sacrifice," said Elfe coldly.

Minerva gave her a patient look. "A merge is not to lose who you are. Vincent Valentine and Chaos now exist as two pieces of one whole. While at times they can merge their consciousness into one powerful being, they still are their own selves. The same would be true for you and Zirconiade. You would not disappear, and as The One Who Will Burn the World, you would be second only to our Holy Weapon in status and strength."

Elfe did not reply, she merely stared at her silently, brooding.

" _Wait... I'm... stronger than Zirconiade_?" asked Aerith with disbelief.

" _You have little concept of just what you have become by merging with Holy, beloved daughter_ ," answered Minerva.

"The choice is yours to make if you so wish it. Merely approach our beloved daughter if you come to agree to it. We have said our piece," spoke Minerva.

"Wait, before you go Goddess, may I ask a question?" said Reeve with hesitation.

Minerva turned her head to look at him. "You have acted well in our service, we grant you an audience."

Reeve grew a bit nervous. "I'm... very concerned about the state of the lifestream right now. Are our readings correct? Just how bad off is the planet right now?"

Minerva sighed. "We are but a fragment of our former self. The days before the arrival of the Heaven's Dark Harbinger are but a distant dream. While we are weak for the moment, so long as we are not heavily wounded again in the near future, infected by Calamity, or forced to revive and make anew the body of a WEAPON, we will survive. Though, the process will be slow if we are conscious for the healing. While our beloved daughter and the other WEAPON's would be opposed to it, hibernation may be the best course of action."

"What does it mean for a planet and it's Goddess to hibernate?" asked Reeve with confusion.

"It means that no use of the lifestream would be allowed. No use of Materia. Our WEAPONs would not be able to tap into their full powers. No new life would be born, whether it be man, beast, or plant," answered Minerva.

Reeve's eyes went wide. "But... that would result in the extinction of the human race!"

"You may find our answer cruel, but, we are not reliant on humanity's survival to see to our own," said Minerva.

A heavy silence descended on the room.

Tseng cleared his throat. "Goddess, correct me if I'm wrong, but, the lifestream exists in all living things, correct?"

Minerva briefly acknowledged him. "It does."

"Then, if we were to cull monster populations and return them to the planet, would that aid in the process?" inquired Tseng.

Minerva tilted her head. "To a degree, yes."

Tseng made a note on his paper, but said nothing more.

"Hibernation may be survivable for humanity, I have an idea that you may be interested in," offered Rufus.

Minerva glanced at him coldly. "The name Shinra has plagued and heavily injured the planet in so short a time. Choose your words carefully."

Rufus winced momentarily. "Well... if scheduled properly, humanity could survive brief periods of hibernation. If population is properly managed, and food properly preserved and distributed during those times, and given a chance to recover and flourish periodically, it could allow the healing of the lifestream to speed up."

Minerva studied him for a moment. "Hmm. Make your 'schedule' and approach our beloved daughter with it. If we agree with it, we may follow through with the concept."

Rufus nodded. "Very well."

"If I may ask one more question?" said Reeve.

Minerva gave him a patient look. "You may."

"Aerith said you could feel the Calamity's presence when it entered the atmosphere?" asked Reeve.

Minerva nodded. "I could."

"How far out into space can you sense? Can you, I don't know, send out a pulse of some kind to detect the Calamities?" asked Reeve.

Minerva shook her head. "No. Releasing lifestream into the void would cause it to disapate without our continual hold and focus. The cost on the lifestream to even go beyond what you call our 'solar system' would be to much for us to bear at the moment."

Reeve appeared to ponder her words deeply. "Hmm... but... no that's a bad idea... but... what about...?"

Minerva cocked her head. "Speak your mind, child."

Reeve hesitated. "If we were to contain and protect a tiny bit of the lifestream in say... a special mechanical probe, and have it relay any findings back to us, would that work? We could send out probes in all directions to warn us of any Calamities coming."

Minerva pondered his words for a moment. "We are unwilling to sacrifice anymore of our lifeblood for the time being. However, should Shinra's 'scheduled hibernation's' show merit, after the first hibernation we may be willing to attempt your idea. Otherwise if we bear the healing process fully conscious, it will be some time before we can sacrifice any of our lifeblood for such an endeavor."

Reeve nodded. "Very well. Either way I'll start research and plans on creating a deep space probe. Thank you, Goddess, for your time."

Minerva tilted her head in response.

"Goddess," said Tseng.

Minerva turned her head.

"Can you 'partially' hibernate?" inquired Tseng.

Minerva frowned. "Partially?"

"If you disable the use of materia, that alone, I imagine, would help greatly. Especially if following a cull of monster population when humanity would not necessarily need materia to defend itself," offered Tseng.

Minerva pondered his words. "It is a strange thought, to 'partially' hibernate. It may be possible, and offers an option between full consciousness, and hibernation or scheduled hibernation. We will... attempt to discover if such a thing is possible."

She cleared her throat. "Make your plans, do your research. Within three months time we will convince, you will present your findings and offer your opinions, afterwords, we will make a choice."

With that, Minerva gave no more options for a response as she left Aerith's body. Aerith shivered and put a hand on the table for support.

She slowly shook her head and sighed. "I... don't think I like doing that."

"I don't think she likes me," said Rufus dryly, "Don't know why. My old man did most of the damage."

Aerith shot him a look. "'Most' being the prime word, still implies you did some damage as well."

Rufus shrugged. "I'm trying to make amends."

Veld cleared his throat. "I believe were done here. Cissnei, Legend."

Veld rose to his feet and made for the door, his two Turks following suit.

Zack stepped forward. "Hey, Cissnei, could I talk to you for a sec?"

Veld paused, glancing at Cissnei, eyebrow raised.

Cissnei frowned. "..."

Cloud studied her for a moment. "Zack... do I know her from somewhere? She seems vaguely familiar."

Zack glanced over at him briefly. "I'm surprised you remember. It was during your whole Mako poisoning thing, she kind of let us go when she found us and gave us a motorcycle to escape Shinra."

Veld and Tseng both sharply looked at Cissnei, who winced under the weight of their gaze. "Zack..."

"Oh, uh... sorry Ciss," said Zack sheepishly.

Aerith gave Cissnei a very warm smile, a Turk with a heart, who would have thought it? "You did a good thing."

She glared at Tseng and then Veld. "And I don't want to hear a thing contrary to that!"

Tseng merely stared at her unblinking, and Veld chuckled softly before speaking, "Five minutes to talk with your, friend, Cissnei, then were leaving."

Cissnei sighed and left the room, Zack following her.

Rufus cleared his throat. "I believe were done as well. Tseng, Elena, lets be on our way. We have a lot of work to do."

Rufus walked to the door and paused briefly to address Veld. "Your more than welcome to rejoin the fold if you so wish. Our resources would be at your disposal, and your help would be greatly appreciated."

Veld merely shrugged. "I imagine it would. I'll pass word onto the others, but, that's their choice to make."

Rufus nodded and walked out, Tseng and Elena on his heels.

Veld made to go as well before pausing and glancing back at Elfe, who was still sitting at the table. "Felicia?"

Elfe rubbed her forehead, but did not respond. "..."

Veld frowned. "You have every right to refuse the Goddess."

"Do I?" murmured Elfe, "I remember how strong I was with just a shard. I could be strong enough to make a real difference if I agreed to it."

"You have a right to pursue your own personal happiness," said Aerith, "Don't let anyone, even the Goddess, imply otherwise."

Elfe sighed and rose to her feet before leaving the room. Aerith couldn't help but be a bit miffed with Minerva. She felt as if the Goddess were pressuring the woman into the choice. She had been very insistent. The whole thing left a very uneasy feeling in the pit of Aerith's stomach. Zirconiade was an entity based entirely on destroying the remains of the planet after Omega had taken the lifestream into space. Why in the world would Minerva give the World Burner a human host? Even if Elfe could somehow temper the entity, it was way to risky in her opinion. Though, on the other hand, the World Burner could probably take on a Calamity head on and win single-handedly if Aerith had to guess. The only problem with that would probably be the collateral damage...

Reeve cleared his throat. "Well, thank you for coming and explaining things, even if it was a bit late."

Cloud nodded, but choose to remain silent.

"Your welcome to stay the night if you so wish," offered Tseng.

Aerith shook her head. "Thank you, but, we need to finish healing that wound to the planet as soon as possible. Then, perhaps I'll follow Elfe's advice and try to learn more about my own power."

Reeve nodded. "Very well."

They left the conference room and started heading for the exit.

"Being in there reminded me of way to many meetings back in HQ," murmured Angeal.

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "That why you were so quiet?"

Angeal shrugged, a contemplative look on his face.

"At least you didn't have Reeve shooting you dirty looks every other minute," muttered Genesis.

They exited the building and waited until Zack came down after them. He seemed a bit downcast, did his talk with Cissnei not go well?

Aerith looked at him questioningly. "Everything okay?"

Zack shrugged. "Yeah, I guess..."

Aerith frowned. "Zack..."

He sighed. "I guess my biting the dust hurt a lot more to some people than I ever thought it would. Coming back to life doesn't change that."

He smirked at her. "Anyway, c'mon, lets go, we've got a major pot hole to go fill."

Aerith sighed and let him hold her bridal style and fly into the air. She wished he wouldn't hide behind that goofy happy-go-lucky facade all the time. When he hurt, he ought to let her in to help. She'd let it slide for now though. She had a lot of thinking to do of her own. About her own powers. About Minerva's potential plans. And about the Calamities...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe some Before Crisis lovers might hate me for it, but, Zirconiade is supposed to be an ultimate summon, the literal ender of the world, the world burner. A bunch of none-enhanced Turks beating it doesn't really fly in my book. So... in my own lore for this, Minerva deprived Zirconiade of its full power because the planet pre-maturly being burned isn't high on her to do list.


	13. The 2nd Nibelheim Incident

Tifa understood the necessity of discipline and training, along with the benefits it brought. She had two entire lifetimes of it in her head, to be frank. But THIS training, what Sephiroth was doing, was complete and utter cruelty and torture for her. She had been putting up with it on random intervals over the last week as they traveled after her first 'incident' with Reunion.

"Do you not crave it Lockheart?" asked Sephrioth, holding a whimpering, maimed bird out to her.

Tifa stared at the animal, shaky fists clenched. "N-no."

"Oh? You don't wish to make it yours? To seed it with your cells? Turn it into your child? Have the right to call it ' ** _mine_** '?" purred Sephiroth.

Tifa gave an involuntary shudder and brief moan. "N...no..."

It was... oh god... it was so hard to resist the urge. She closed her eyes and turned away, trembling.

"I did not say this session was over, Lockheart, you will open your eyes and you will look at...," began Sephiroth

Tifa's eyes snapped open, shining blood red. " _ **MINE**_!"

Sephiroth was already acting as she dove for the bird, snapping it's neck and killing it before tripping and pinning Tifa to the ground. He kept her down as she bucked and struggled, snarling for a few minutes before she regained control of herself.

Sephiroth cleared his throat and rose to his feet. "Now, this session is over."

Tifa laid there for a moment before releasing a string of curses.

Sephiroth chuckled. "If it's any consolation, you lasted slightly longer than last time."

Tifa pushed herself up and sighed. "It's not. God, I hate Reunion even more now that I know what it's like."

"Hmph. You will be singing its praise the first time you reconstruct yourself from the lifestream," said Sephiroth.

Tifa rolled her eyes. "I'll stick with not dying to begin with, because if i can't stop myself from trying to consume half-dead animals, then I don't even want to think what will happen if I enter the lifestream, or go near mako for that matter."

Sephiroth made a non-committal hum. "Indeed. Restraining yourself around the lifeblood of the planet will be the next lesson in control after Reunion."

Tifa sighed heavily. "I hate my life..."

Sephiroth walked past her. "It's time to go, were already behind schedule because of your training sessions as is."

Tifa rolled her eyes and started walking after him. "Riiiiight. Like you honestly have somewhere you desperately need to be."

"Hmph," was his only response.

She sighed. "It's not like there's anywhere either of us need to be, or can be..."

Sephiroth didn't appear to dignify that a response. Tifa smirked sadly at that. Having these extra training sessions got them to talk more and cut away at some of the silence, but, Tifa was beginning to learn that Sephiroth simply was a quiet man when he wasn't hell bent on destroying the world. It wasn't to say he wouldn't respond when talked to, but he sure as hell wasn't the kind to start a conversation, well, ANY conversation, unless it had a purpose.

Tifa stretched and gave her surroundings a brief glance. They were a bit north of Cosmo Canyon. She had been moderately terrified of encountering Nanaki when they passed through the area, but thankfully, she hadn't seen her old friend. She just... didn't think she could bear to see any of them right now. She was grudgingly and regretfully thankful to her father for giving her a wing. Otherwise she'd have had to go see Cid to get a ride to Wutai, because she kind of doubted Sephiroth would carry her.

Though, it wasn't like they ever flew to begin with. After landing after leaving the Highwind, Sephiroth had not once took to the sky. To have the freedom of the skies, but choose to remain walking on the ground, she didn't quite understand it. Then again, he had that wing of his longer than she had hers, maybe flying lost it's appeal after a time. Who knows... well...

"Hey Sephiroth?" said Tifa.

There was a hum of acknowledgement.

"Why don't you want to fly? We could be to Wutai in hours," she asked.

"Because I wish to take my time and think," he replied.

"Oh," she replied, "About what?"

Sephiroth tilted his head to the skies. "The future and what is yet to come."

Tifa frowned. "What do you mean?"

Sephiroth paused his steps. "Hmm. That's right, you don't know, do you?"

He turned to face her. "Lockheart. Both myself, and your ' _friends_ ' are under the assumption that more of my Mother's kin will be coming at some point.

Tifa's blood ran cold. "Y-your serious?"

He nodded. "I am. Your Father spoke of a death call my Mother apparently sent out that appears to attract them here."

Tifa scowled. "Even when she's beaten, she's still such a bitch..."

She glanced at him. "No offense of course."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at that, the tips of his lips quivering slightly with amusement before he turned and continued on. Tifa followed suit, now doing as much quiet thinking as he appeared to be. More Calamities... more Calamities would be coming...

She narrowed her eyes, she would stop them, she wouldn't let anything like what happened to her happen to the others. "I'm going to kill each and every one of them."

Sephiroth turned his head slightly. "Is that so?"

Tifa nodded, a brief mocking smile on her face. "Monsters killing monsters, it's fitting, and for the record, that goes for killing you if you try anything with Cloud again."

"Hmph," was his response, facing forward and continuing onward.

They walked in silence for a time before the scenery began to change. She barley paid attention to the snow and hilly terrain. Mountains sprang up in the distance, familiar, but for some reason unwelcoming to her. This area seemed... familiar to her...

But it didn't hit her until Sephiroth abruptly stopped and town gates came into her just where she was. "Nibelheim..."

Her face contorted with anger and she turned on him. "The hell did you bring us _HERE_ for?"

Sephiroth scoffed. "We have to purchase a flight from Rocket Town to reach Wutai, our passage through here will be quick."

Tifa turned her glare from him to the town. "We ought to just fly ourselves..."

There were... so many bad memories here. Far more bad than good, even in the 'true' memories she had. Anything good she could remember could be attributed to childlike innocence and ignorance. Even the promise she had gotten Cloud to make was selfish and idiotically childish. To think, Father had used that very promise against her. But... what little 'good' memories there might have once been here...

They were gone...

The only thing that stood where Nibelheim had once been were _lies_. Tifa walked into the town, eyeing it's ' _inhabitant's_ ' with disdain. All of them, Shinra employees, having been paid to live here, just to cover up a tragedy of their own making. They walked, every single day, on-top of a graveyard of sins. Her birth father, Cloud's mother, all the other townsfolk... all of them gone and all of them forgotten except by herself and Cloud.

She...

She hated them...

Her eyes turned to the one thing that did actually remain from old Nibelheim, the Shinra Manor. What she had seen and read within those walls...

"Do you feel anything?" she asked quietly, "To be back here again?"

Sephiroth was silent.

She closed her eyes and clenched her fists tightly. "I hate it. This place..."

She ground her teeth and opened her eyes. "Should never have been ' _rebuilt_ '. I... I..."

A sad, twisted smile played over her face. "I almost wish I could burn it to the ground."

"Hmph," was Sephiroth's reply, "It's more than within your power to do so. Though, I'd advise not drawing the planet's ire if at all possible."

A few of the townsfolk were looking at them uneasily. Tifa shot them a hostile look and they scurried away. Her anger, her rage was ticking higher and higher by the second. She couldn't stay here, not for long, not unless she wanted a repeat of Edge.

"Let's go," she hissed in anger.

She didn't know if it was because of the Calamity coursing through her veins, but, this fury was surreal. She had been shocked and horrified the first time she had came back, and a little angry, but nothing close to this extent. She had never returned to Nibelheim again afterwords. Was this Calamity? Or was this truth? When she wasn't busy chasing Sephiroth, being shocked by the lies standing here, was this rage what she should be feeling? Was it righteous? Or was it murderous?

She stopped at the mountain path, her fists trembling, that question didn't honestly matter, not here. "This place..."

She turned her head to glare back into the town, there was a small gathering of people watching them curiously and with unease. "HEY! Listen up!"

She narrowed her eyes. "This entire place was burned to the ground and rebuilt! Don't even try to deny it, I was there! This place is a lie! And you all know it! You fakes were paid to live here to cover up a lie made by the Shinra Corporation!"

There were some guilt that she saw, but not nearly enough. "Maybe at the start, but it's our home, we live here now!"

Oh no, oh hell no. This place was not _theirs_ to dwell in.

"Not anymore you don't, leave, and never return, I don't care where you go," she spat, "None of you had best be remaining the next time I return here."

With that, she turned and stormed off into the mountain, furiously stalking its trails, pummeling any monsters to stupid enough to get out of her way into bloody pulps. She wanted to fight a Nibelheim dragon of all things, if only to vent her rage, but they wisely stayed away. The only thing that dared be near here that had any semblance of sentience or intelligence was Sephiroth, and that man feared nothing. She was very tempted to have a go at him just for the sake of it...

She sighed heavily, clenching and unclenching her fists. "Do you... ever just want to kill something?"

There was an audible snort.

Tifa rolled her eyes. "Let me rephrase, do you ever just want to kill something more than usual?"

There was a soft chuckle. "When I do, I usually revive myself and go find Cloud."

It was Tifa's turn to snort. "I'm kind of amused."

Tifa sighed and stretched briefly, trying to work some of the tension out of her body. "Whatever, let's just go."

They continued walking for a time, until Sephiroth suddenly stopped, his gaze narrowing.

"What is it?" asked Tifa.

He didn't respond. She stepped next to him and followed his gaze, sighting...

"Oh," she murmured

The reactor.

Sephiroth started towards it, his motions stiff. Tifa hesitated briefly before following him. Tifa paused briefly, remembering where her father had died. She knelt down and placed a hand on the ground, closing her eyes for a moment. There was a clang of a metal door opening, and with a sigh, she rose to her feet and followed Sephiroth inside the reactor.

She gave a grunt as they entered the red steel stairwell and pod room leading to Jenova's former chambers. "So much for disassembling and destroying the reactors, eh Reeve?"

"Hmph," said Sephiroth, a strangeness in his voice.

Tifa froze. That tone... it sent a chill down her spine...

Sephiroth clenched his fists and drew Masamune, slowly walking up the steps. "Even with Mother gone from this place, there is a power here that no mere human would dare stand against."

Tifa tasted the air. It was... heavy... and not just with the stench of a reactor...

"It lingers," she murmured, "What happened here."

Sephiroth paused before turning down a row of pods, he paused at one in particular and looked inside before slowly shaking his head. "Hmph. Hojo even found a new experiment to replace the one that died during the incident."

She blinked a few times. "It's... not alive, is it?"

Sephiroth looked in again. "It would appear to be."

Tifa's eyes went wide with shock, and then rage. "That man..."

"Man?" inquired Sephiroth sharply, "I hate humans, and yet even I would not insult them to refer to Hojo as a one of their kind."

Tifa raised an eyebrow at him, but he didn't respond. Sephiroth turned and walked back to the stairs, turning and walking down. He took a few steps to the left and paused, tilting his head.

" _Poor little Sephiroth. You've never actually met your mother. You've only been told her name, no? I don't know what images you've conjured up in your head, but... Jenova! Was excavated from a 2000-year old rock layer. She's a monster,"_ said Sephiroth in an odd tone, as if he were trying to recreate someone's voice.

"Sephiroth?" she questioned curiously.

Sephiroth blinked a few times and turned to her, frowning. "Hmph. It amuses me that Genesis of all people was the one who ultimately told me the truth, even if I refused to hear it."

She frowned. "That's right, you said Genesis was at Nibelheim..."

He nodded. "He was. He told me the truth, and in my denial, I went in search of what I thought was the truth, only to stumble across Hojo's lies."

He chuckled darkly. "The irony is not lost on me."

Tifa crossed her arms and stared at him, hard. "So wait, the big 'push' towards your madness was him telling you the _truth_?"

Sephiroth met her gaze steadily. "It was a poorly timed and cruelty laced truth, but yes. Combined with my Mother's presence, it was enough to fracture what stability I had left at that point. What I read in the basement of the Mansion, coupled with Mother's voice, was enough to send me over the edge, I suppose."

He started to laugh. "It amuses me to no end, how easily I was played."

He shook his head and started up the stairs again. "How easily I was deceived, even by my so called Mother."

"You went into the lifestream, you knew the truth, why did you go along with what she wanted?" asked Tifa.

Sephiroth scoffed. "I told you before, I had nothing left for me in a world of _humans_. I embraced Mother's voice, though I did push her will aside, and adopted her crusade as my own. It is one thing to gaze into the abyss, Lockheart, it is another thing entirely to dive into it's madness headfirst willingly."

"And what about now?" she asked softly, "You sound way to logical to honestly be insane."

Sephiroth stopped at the top of the stairs. "I suppose that would depend on your definition of sanity and insanity."

He swung his blade at the nearest Mako pod, but unlike what Cloud had told her happened during the Nibelheim incident, his blade did not glance off. No, it tore through the pod, killing its occupant, rending the pod itself in half. Tainted foul mako poured out of the pod along with the creature's dying screams. Tifa tensed at the sight of Mako, fearing that she'd feel the _hunger_ , but it's stench instead nauseated her.

Sephiroth continued to speak as he began ruthlessly destroying and exterminating each pod and it's inhabitants, "I still hate humans. That they could give rise to Shinra is a sin a thousand WRO's could never fix. To so willingly bleed their own planet dry for the sake of their petty greed and ambition is..."

She couldn't help but smile a bit at his words.

He paused, scowling at her. "Don't give me that look. I personally don't care what happens to this world, but what Shinra did is still contemptible by any standards. If anyone would bleed this world dry, it would be me or Mother. At least that way, it's lifeblood would be put to good use."

Tifa rolled her eyes.

He smiled cruelly at her. "I suppose I could put you on that list as well if you prefer."

Her smile turned into a glare.

Sephiroth resumed destroying the pods and experiments. "To be frank Lockheart, it doesn't honestly mater if I am sane, insane, or somewhere inbetween. I am who I am, no more, no less.

_CLEAVE_

Sephiroth swept his blade and destroyed and entire row of pods in one go. "Whether I am a human, or a monster like these things, there was a time when that question destroyed Genesis, Angeal, and myself. Now? I don't care, not anymore."

"I am _Sephiroth_ , I am something beyond humanity, beyond monster, beyond Calamity," he said, driving his blade through a pod and ripping it out, mako-monster still pierced on his blade.

He flicked the monster off in Tifa's direction, she spun and drove her foot into the side of it's neck, snapping it and sending it into the wall. "What about me then?"

Sephiroth had his blade ready to destroy the next pod before pausing. "That, Lockheart, is up to you to decide.

_SLASH_

Tifa watched his tirade and venting, wondering sullenly if she shouldn't be doing the same thing. He had moved on, accepted what he was, she sure as hell hadn't. Every answer he had, was still a question plaguing her...

Not a man, not a monster, not a Calamity, just Sephiroth. Could she ever be ' _just_ ' Tifa? It was a thought that troubled her. To cast aside everything that once made you who you were. But... if that everything was a lie, or was a painful past, would it honestly be that bad? To Sephiroth, the choice was obvious. To her? She didn't honestly know... it just made her anxious.

She watched him butcher pod and monster alike, her anxiety and frustration growing the entire time. She saw satisfaction in every move he made. He was slaughtering and destroying his past here, conquering it utterly. That much she could tell. She doubted the reactor itself would be standing when he was done.

When he came to the last pod, she called out. "Wait."

He paused and glanced her way. "What is it?"

"Your not the only one with demons living here," she said, walking up to him and holding out her hand.

He raised an eyebrow before flipping Masamune around and offering her the handle. She took it, flexing her grip, before raising the blade high into the air and bisecting the pod and the monster in it. She watched it fall apart with grim intensity. She didn't know what she felt... if it was satisfaction, it wasn't nearly enough. She sighed, stood up straight, and handed the sword back.

"Not satisfied?" he inquired.

"Not really," she murmured.

"Hmph, come," he said, leaving the reactor.

She followed behind, and true to her earlier thought, the moment they were a safe distance, he turned and began lobbing fireballs at the reactor. He blasted chunks out of it until it at last exploded in a mako explosion. Tifa stood next to him in the storm as he raised a barrier around them.

When the blast cleared, she looked at the crater where it had been. "Good riddance."

She turned to look at him, noting that the satisfaction she had seen earlier was gone. "Hmm, perhaps I lied."

She blinked a few times. "About what?"

"Our quickness through the area," he said simply.

His wing exploded out of his shoulder in a rain of feathers and he took to the sky. She followed suit, following him reluctantly back to Nibelheim. She figured out where he was going well before they landed, retracted their wings, and walked in the door: The Shinra Mansion.

She followed him down the hidden stairwell. She noted as he slowly walked down that his fingers brushed the walls, leaving a trail in the dust clinging to them. His eyes seemed distant, lost in a memory. They reached the library a minute later. Sephiroth walked to the desk, sat down, and opened the first book. He read for less than thirty seconds before sighing.

He rubbed his temples. "Not even through the first page and I spotted the first lie."

Tifa watched him read, figuring each annoyed twitch of his eyes was another lie discovered. "Does it bug you that much?"

He briefly looked up at her before returning to the book. "The lies themselves? No. The shear number that I'm seeing that I never noticed? Yes. I don't care about the town I burned down nor the lives I took. But not even spotting a single lie? I'm annoyed with myself, it is inexcusable to have allowed myself to be so blind."

"Well, you didn't know they were all lies at the time, right? How much did you honestly know before you entered the lifestream?" she asked.

He narrowed his eyes. "That is beside the point: I let myself be used by him. If there is one great regret I have during Meteorfall and the period before it, neigh, my entire life, it is that I did not personally kill Hojo. I did not consider him 'worth' my time when I was chasing the black materia and godhood."

He snorted. "Truly I must have been _'mad'_ to pass up the opportunity."

He ran a hand through his hair, a frustrated sigh escaping his lips. "To have that man as a 'father' is a pain unlike any other."

"Are you sure he is your father?" she asked.

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. "Fairly certain, who else could it be?"

"Well, Vincent was with Lucrecia..." she began.

Sephiroth laughed and waved her off. "So my choices are a madman and a gutless fool who locked himself in a coffin for decades as 'penance' instead of taking action or revenge? No, I'd rather say I spontaneously spawned myself than choose either of them."

Tifa went silent at that, bowing her head. It occurred to her that Sephiroth might actually have a point. That lock on the door would not have held back a Chaos infused Vincient. He had the knowledge, he had the power... if he had just walked out of this damn _Haunted House_ and did something, who knew what the _Butterfly Effect_ would have been? How much would have changed?

"Leave," came a cold, hostile voice.

Tifa blinked and looked up to see Sephiroth practically glaring holes at the book he was reading. "Huh?"

"I wish to be alone for the time being, find something to entertain yourself with," he spat.

Tifa answered quietly. "Okay."

She left, heading back upstairs, outside the manor, and sitting down on its steps. She might not be personally afraid of him that much anymore after her... transformation... and the last few weeks traveling with him, but she was not foolish enough to stay anywhere near him when he was in this mood. Not that he was the only one in a foul mood.

This place... she just wanted to leave... she gave a frustrated sigh and stared at the ground, her silvery hair hanging down below her. "..."

"Hey! There's one of the freaks!" came a loud, angry voice.

Tifa blinked a few times, slowly sitting upright, sighting several angry, and armed, townsfolk coming her way. She took in the sight of their guns and blades, her nostrils flaring. Were they serious? Did they have any clue who they were screwing with right now? And wait, freak?

That name hit a chord. She could remember Cloud being called that, among other things, by the other children. The bitterness those words left in her... was that how Cloud always felt? Being singled out for abuse? Being outcast? Guilt welled up in her for having any hand to play in that, if only she hadn't kept her mouth shut about the bridge incident... had told the truth...

"Hey! Freak! We don't appreciate you coming around here and telling us to get lost! Ya ain't got no right!" one of the townsfolk said, pointing a gun in her face.

Tifa narrowed her eyes. They might have been hired to cover up a lie, but they sure as hell would have fit in back in old Nibelheim. Inconsiderate assholes who hated outsiders and anything different. And where the hell did they get off telling _HER_ that she had no _RIGHT_ telling them not to leave? Aside from Cloud, she was the _ONLY_ left one that had a right! This had been _HER_ home! Hers! _HERS_! **MINE**!

Tifa felt possessiveness for this place and her hate boiling over. If not for the training she had gone through with Sephiroth, she might not have caught herself in time. It wasn't the same kind of possessiveness as with Reunion, but it was _damn_ close. It sent chills down her spine, feeling bloodlust screaming at her to be quenched. This place... it... it was to much... she had to get out of here...

She abruptly stood up, ignoring the startled cry and clicking of the safety of the gun in front of her and released her wing, the townsfolk crying out in surprise and fear as she did. She had to go, had to go, had to _GO_! Had to leave before this got out of control...

"She's a monster!" cried out the man infront of her.

Tifa froze at those words, mortified and shaken at them. It was one thing to think it of herself, it was another, _horrifying_ thing to hear it from the words of another...

_BANG!_

Tifa recoiled as a gunshot blew through her chest, sending her staggering. Eyes going wide in shock. She grimaced, falling to a knee, hand going to her chest, feeling the blood soaking through them as the bullet hole slowly healed. She held up her hand, looking at the blood in a daze.

_Thump thump..._

The townsfolk backed away as she shakily stood up, shaking not out of pain, but rage... mind numbing rage... and...

_Thump thump..._

Hate... was this what Sephiroth had felt? Was this... why he hated humans? Yes... they... they were the true monsters... inconsiderate... selfish... cruel...

_Thump thump..._

The slits of her eye tightened, the mako in them shinning a heavy blood red. Thoughts began to leave her mind rapidly, shoved aside by hate on a level she hadn't felt since Edge...

_Thump thump..._

She smiled cruelly at them, a red glow of energy surrounding her. "I warned you all to leave Nibelheim... you had your chance..."

* * *

Sephiroth tossed aside his current book, aggravated. "Fifteen lies in one book alone. Pitiful. I'm going to be in a state of perpetual chagrin before I'm through with..."

_BANG_

Sephiroth paused, catching the sound of gunfire off in the distance. He frowned and shrugged it off, passing it off as something hunting related and moved to take the next book...

Only to pause as a familiar chill ran down his spine. "Lockheart..."

He rose to his feet and made for the door of the library, pausing only to shoot a fireball back into it and set the whole place aflame. He started hearing screams, and them abruptly being cut off one by one as he ascended the staircase and strode through the house. He smelt smoke and frowned intently before coming to a window...

He stared out with a sense of wonder...

Nibelheim was burning.

Again.

With a double sense of deja vu from his own time in Nibelheim and from watching Lockheart's memory of Edge, he watched as Lockheart slaughtered the townsfolk. Unlike Edge, she wasn't quick or efficient, she was _brutal_ , and already covered in _generous_ amounts of blood. One punch broke a hip, one kick snapped a spine, one foot ground in and shattered a knee before she finally drove a fist completely through someone's skull. Then, she was onto the next. Even from here he could feel the hate radiating off her in waves, whatever had happened had truly sent her over the edge to do this without her Father's manipulation involved.

He contemplated, briefly, intervening, but decided against it. He didn't care for this town or it's humans. He did not feel Gaia's presence watching them. Tifa was not enacting Reunion, so it did not appear to care if it knew at all what was happening. His lips curled into a grin, perhaps it appreciated the return of the lifestream within the humans?

He watched her work, a pleased smile on his face. There was utter cruelty in her every move, she fired a fireball at a little girl, watching briefly as the human screamed, her flesh melting, before she turned to the next person trying to flee. Hmph, not even the children were spared her wrath. Truly a magnificent sight... though, the humans fleeing towards the mansion detracted from his view. He chuckled darkly to himself, why should Lockheart have all the pleasure?

He stepped from the window and made his way downstairs. His sword was out and impaling through both the door and the human opening it by the time the doorknob started to move. He kicked open the door and surged out, Masamune singing through the air. The fools who had sought safety in the _Shinra_ Mansion were shown the error of putting faith into anything built by that company.

He breathed in deep the stench of fire and death, listening to the cackle of the flames along with the screams. He sheathed Masamune and walked through the flames, drawing closer, but still keeping distance from Lockheart, simply wanting a closer view. It took his breath away to see that utter contempt and hate in her eyes. Everything she touched bleed and died, every place she aimed her fiery glowing hands was reduced to ash... she was a beautiful angel of death...

She stood alone in the flames, her eyes sweeping around, searching for another source of her hatred. Her gaze fell on him and locked onto his eyes. He did not tense, he did not act, he merely waited, wondering if he would get a good fight out of this to boot. Instead, to his surprise, her eyes softened, and the red glow of hate surrounding her faded a bit. She blinked a few times, coming out of whatever blood-haze she had been in, and slowly looked around over her handiwork. He sighed and mentally counted down the seconds till her breakdown...

It never came. She merely continued to look around, a sad look on her face, frustration and resentment in her eyes. How curious...

He strode up to her, desiring an answer to sate his curiosity, stopping a mere step away.

She looked up at him. "..."

He raised an eyebrow. "..."

She spoke quietly, the cackling of flames and crumpling structures almost defeating his enhanced hearing, "They're the real monsters... not me..."

He tilted his head, studying her. He searched her face, looking for the telltale signs of someone offering an excuse for being caught in an act. There were none. She simply spoke what she thought was a truth, a truth he had come to himself a long time ago, for some reason it seemed to pain her.

"I... just wanted them to leave... wanted them to leave my memories alone... they didn't belong here... no one does... Nibelheim never should have been rebuilt," she said quietly, "It should have remained a memory, a graveyard... a reminder..."

She gave a short, brief, laugh of despair. "I was going to spare them... but... they called me a monster... shot me... when I wasn't even going to attack them, I was going to fly away..."

_My friend, do you fly away now?_

_To a world that abhors you and I?_

_All that awaits you is a somber morrow._

_No matter where the winds may blow._

Genesis's words rang in his mind, triggered by Lockheart's own, how true they were. "And where would you have gone Lockheart... where would you have gone, _Tifa_?"

He tasted her name on his lips. "There isn't a place in this world that would welcome you anymore than it does me."

She closed her eyes. "I know..."

He reached a hand up to grasp a lock of her hair, twiddling it between his thumbs.

"Your... the only one who doesn't judge...," she murmured.

Hmph... did not judge? He did judge, and he approved of what she had done, but, that probably wasn't what she meant. He stared at her, lost in her power, and her defenselessness at the moment. Such a conundrum and contradiction Tifa was...

"Your wrong...," she murmured.

"About what?" he asked.

"I... think there's one place... I wouldn't be turned away...," she said softly, before giving a despairing chuckle.

"Oh?" he asked, honestly curious, even the Puppet and the Ancient would have a hard time looking past this.

To his surprise, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him tightly, burying her head into his chest. He stared down at her, a bit baffled, before the understanding of her words hit him. How ironic that she would find with him of all people being the one place she wouldn't be shunned and rejected. He smiled softly at that, she was right he supposed. He reached up a hand to comb through her hair possessively. He would not turn away what was essentially a reflection of himself. Perhaps that was the source of her despair, her realization of that fact.

He felt... a oh so mortal urge, one he hadn't had since he had been inside Tifa's head. He looked down at her and smirked, deciding to indulge it once more, only to find he was beaten to it. She wrapped her hands around his head and pulled his lips down to hers. He tasted the desperation and despair, a... exquisite mix. He tasted it for a moment longer before beginning to pull back, such delicacies should be savored sparingly.

Apparently Tifa didn't agree. She pulled him back, kissed him again, passion emanating from her, and her scent changing, before she slowly took him to the ground. He broke her kiss for a moment, studying her face and eyes intently. Seeing her emotions so laid bare, he contemplated her intentions for the briefest of moments, knowing where this was leading, and more than surprised this was her desire. Was she simply lost in herself and desperate? Or was this her new truth? Whatever it was, he supposed it didn't mater at the moment, he pushed her down, if this was what she wanted, so be it, but he was not one to be led, he was one to lead...

* * *

If Jenova had a body or a face aside from the few cells hiding away in Lockheart's body, she would have smiled. What a dutiful son, and what the perfect place for this... Reunion of sorts. The First Nibelheim Incident had given her her son...

The Second Nibelheim Incident would give her a new... **_unprecedented_**... host body. When two Calamities met and consumed one another in how it naturally happened, the cells absorbed were converted. This would be a mixture of two separate Calamity bloodlines... even she could not envision the power and potential her soon-to-be host would have once born and fully grown. If she had a mouth, it would be watering with anticipation and hunger.

She waited, patiently, for the strands of life to take root. It wouldn't take much effort to subvert and contaminate the soul of a newborn once it arrived to begin stimulating the growth of the tiny life. She waited... and waited... except...

No soul entered.

She studied the tiny soulless vessel for a moment, perplexed, before it dawned on her...

_Oh Minerva, you foolish little goddess..._

This was even more perfect then she could have imagined. If a soul was denied to one who was unborn... it would simply die and be re-absorbed into it's mother's body within hours. What a clever way to keep the Children of Calamity from multiplying, to simply deny them access to the cycle of souls. Neither her son nor Lockheart would have been able to conceive children, together or with a human, and they would never know why. They'd probably just assume it was a side effect of being born a Child of Calamity.

But what that foolish little goddess had not counted on was her... she could simply preserve the body until it was born... and thinking of the future, even when her son and Lockheart eventually found out, they wouldn't turn on her, not when she revealed what Minerva was denying them. She was going to have the last laugh before this was through, one way or another...

She eagerly probed the vessel, thinking. If there was no soul... then it was an empty vessel... one she could control uncontested...

But...

If she could have frowned, she would have. This also provided another... unusual option. If there was no another soul to fight with... then this body was unclaimed... there was no soul it was bound with... there was a... possibility she had never had before...

She could fully bind herself to this unborn body... make it truthfully her own by seeding it with her own soul in-place of a Gaia one, rather than simply possessing it and controlling it like a puppet. It would be a new existence for her, unlike anything she had ever been through before.

While she was loath to change what she was... she had very little options at the moment, she was forced to adapt or die. What very little of her cells remaining outside of Lockheart were being purged as time passed by. By the time this body was born, let alone matured, not enough would remain for any kind of Reunion. If she only puppeted this body, and it failed, she'd have nothing left... but... if she took on this new existence...

What would she gain?

What would she lose?

What would she become?

There was only one way to find out...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be fair... they townsfolks kind of brought it on themselves... Tifa didn't want to do it initially, buuuuut, you don't shoot an unstable Child of Calamity without extreme consequences. I also want you to envision, and cringe a bit, at exactly where Sephiroth and Tifa are doing it, after all, the town is literally still burning around them.
> 
> Also, Jenova's getting her own true body, rather than being a 'sentient cellular disease' if you will, a body born of two different Calamity bloodlines, from powerful beings; Sephiroth and Tifa. I want you all to think just how potentially bad this is...
> 
> Minerva goofed, big time.
> 
> I also may have made a not-so-subtle hint towards two Fanfictions where Vincent did in fact get out of that basement coffin of his. Haunted House, which is a highly recommended personal favorite of mine, and Butterfly Effect, which is good, but, watch out for the Yaoi/Yuri stuff.


	14. New Starts

_Six months later..._

Cloud nodded in satisfaction as the last of the Midgar crater was sealed with dirt and mud. It had been a long and hard process, but, aside from the blackened soil, there was no evidence of Midgar or the crater left. Aerith was still tending to restoring the lifestream's flow through the place, but, she had started to go slower, to take her time, after all...

He glanced back at the kneeling woman, at the visible baby bump on her stomach. She had other things to be concerned and focused on. He smiled softly, she and Zack would make great parents. It made him happy, truly happy, for the first time in a long time, to see Aerith and Zack together and moving on with their lives. Not to mention...

Cloud grinned. He was going to be a godfather, Zack and Aerith had both already cornered him into it. Not that he had put up much of a fight in that regard. He would give his all to help out with the children of his friends in any way that he could.

Friends...

Cloud frowned, contemplative, at the thought of his friends, and one in particular. He hadn't seen or heard of Tifa since the first meeting with Reeve. It was a constant, nagging thought, that she was alone potentially under Sephiroth's thumb. If it weren't for the fact that Tifa was capable of taking Sephiroth on in a fight, he would have gone after her by now. He still wanted to... and with the crater being sealed... perhaps it was time.

Cloud walked over to the kneeling Cetra. "Aerith."

She slowly opened her eyes. "Yes Cloud?"

"Do you know where Tifa is?" he asked.

Aerith frowned briefly. "I am aware of her presence. She... has been relatively stationary for the last two months, staying in one place. From what I can detect, it's a bit to the south-east of Cosmo Canyon, to the far west of old Gongaga."

Cloud thought briefly, trying to triangulate it in the map of the world in his head. "To the north of Cactus Island?"

Aerith smirked. "Yes, that place."

He figured he knew why she was smirking. AVALANCHE had spent a bit of time there morphing Cactaurs into Tetra Elemental accessories instead of rushing to the Northern Crater to fight Sephiroth. They were highly useful, as absorbing fire, ice, lightning, and earth based damage was an amazing perk in a fight. Not to mention they sold for quite a bit, and they had been running short on money by that point.

From what Cloud could recall, the area Aerith was referring to was a hill overlooking the ocean. It had a forest at its base, with a stream running through it. It was an off the beaten path kind of area that not many people would go to if he had to guess. Had Tifa chosen to settle down there as a kind of exile?

He hoped not...

He knew enough about guilt, especially survivors guilt, to hope she wasn't still beating herself up over what the Calamity had made her do, and what had been done to her. Though, all things considered, she probably was. Less than a year really wasn't a lot of time to adjust.

"Cloud?" spoke up Aerith.

He refocused. "I need to go check on her."

Aerith nodded slowly and sighed. "I figured this would come eventually. We might as well get it over with."

Cloud frowned. "I don't think it'll be that bad. At least... I hope not, and, you don't have to come. I can just..."

Aerith shook her head. "I'm going Cloud. I do want to see how she's doing, and what exactly she and Sephiroth are up to."

Cloud's frown deepened. "Sephiroth is still with her?"

Aerith nodded. "He is."

Having to deal with the One-Winged Angel was not something he was looking forward to.

"Yo!" called over Zack as he approached, "What's with the super serious faces?"

"Were going to check in on Tifa," answered Aerith.

Zack nodded and shot Cloud a look. "I was wondering when you were going to get around to it. Alright, one Zack Fair air delivery service coming up! Hey Angeal! Grab Cloud, were flying!"

Zack scooped up his fiancee and took off into the air. Angeal walked over and grabbed Cloud by his shoulder's and took off after Zack, catching up a minute later.

"After were done checking in on Tifa, I want to head to Lucrecia's cave," called back Aerith, "She's the last source of Jenova left ignoring you and Sephiroth. Once she's cleansed, the Calamity is gone for good."

Cloud nodded, feeling extreme satisfaction. "Good riddance."

"Our only concern afterwords will be 'replacement' Calamities," said Angeal solemnly.

Cloud resisted the urge to sigh. "Couldn't let me just enjoy the moment, could you?"

Angeal glanced down and gave him a wry smile, but didn't respond. Cloud didn't mind, he turned his thoughts to the oncoming meeting. It had been a little over seven months since the Morbunova's planet-fall and defeat. He was... anxious... about Tifa. Having been alone with Sephiroth for that period of time, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't terrified of her having been influenced for the worse.

He looked downcast at the ocean below them as they started over it towards their destination. Guilt was also a heavy feeling rising in his chest. He had relatively enjoyed the last few months in the company of Aerith, Zack, Angeal, and sometimes Genesis when the man was around. Tifa? He had left her to suffer her own demons with only Sephiroth as her 'company' while he had been happy and content.

He pondered that thought. He vaguely recollected the first meeting he had with Reeve. The pictures he had been shown, of Tifa and Sephiroth traveling together. From what he could recall, in the pictures, Tifa didn't seem abused, hurt, or distressed. Not that he'd be able to honestly tell, the cells of a calamity infected body would greatly increased the healing process. That thought was a particularly blood boiling one, but, he had to remind himself of just how strong Tifa had become. If Sephiroth tried to lay a hand on her, she was capable of taking him head on and dishing back out whatever she took.

On that note, he recalled the pictures of the two of them sparring with one another. While she had become capable of it, the thought of the two of them constantly battling one another was a bit... stressful. Stress... Tifa would have a lot of it after all of this, maybe a good spar was something she needed to work out her anger and frustration. Sephiroth being the fighting hungering monster he was would never turn down a good challenge. Perhaps that was why the man was still with her, if Sephiroth wasn't tormenting him, the One-Winged Angel would need something to do to keep him busy.

In truth though, he doubted that would be the primary reason. He was very curious why they were still traveling together, or rather, remaining together. Aerith had said Tifa had been relatively stationary for the last two months. At the last meeting with Reeve to discuss the planet's lifestream recover options, Rufus and the Turks hadn't made a peep about her. He figured they'd be keeping an eye on her and Sephiroth, they'd be fools not to, but apparently the two of them weren't doing anything news worthy.

He rolled his eyes at the thought. Not that the Turks would honestly tell them anything they didn't have to. Secrecy was kind of their thing.

His thoughts turned back to the meeting in question. A lot of the meeting and the terms had went way over his head. He didn't think himself unintelligent, but, he was no scientist. Not that he'd _ever_ want to be one, Hojo had killed any appreciation for the profession he ever had or ever could have. The end result though he understood, he understood it all to well.

He didn't have a single materia on him, none of them did. Minerva had found it possible to 'partially' hibernate. The goddess had admitted to discovering and starting the process within the week initial meeting had happened, it had taken a lot of her focus to do so. Materia... all materia... had gone silent, and had lost their glow. They were simple stones for the time being. Tseng had already initiated monster culling, hoping to aid in the effort of restoring the lifestream, and safeguarding humanity. Without cure, heal, or life materia, death would have been far more rampant than it had been if monsters had been left unchecked. Not that the goddess would have minded that...

Cloud frowned. He kept his tongue civil around the avatar of the planet and Aerith, but, the disregard for individual human life outside of goddess's chosen was a bit... off-putting to him. He could somewhat understand it, a deity had to be concerned for the world as a whole rather than a few people, or even an entire race. Still... while he greatly appreciated the fact that the goddess had revived Aerith and Zack, he didn't exactly like her, especially since she had only revived his friends to fight the Calamities. They should have been revived to enjoy their lives, free of a requirement. He supposed it was a moot point though, he wasn't exactly going to voice his opinion to Aerith or the others.

He sighed, enough with the dreary thoughts.

He glanced up at Angeal. "So, where's Genesis?"

"' _Flying away_ ' somewhere," said Angeal.

"Please don't start quoting that poem too," said Cloud with chagrin.

Angeal chuckled. "I'll try not to."

"Think he should be here for this? I heard you and Zack talking about..." began Cloud.

Angeal glanced down at him, a warning look on his face, and interrupted, "I do not wish to be rude Strife, but what happens between myself, Genesis, and Sephiroth is something that will happen in private, between the three of us. Do not intrude."

Cloud was a bit taken aback. "Okay."

That... was one of the few times Angeal had ever taken that tone. The man could be strict and stern, but was almost never hostile. He was sometimes tense during the few times Cloud talked with him about the man's time in SOLDIER, but it was never like this. He studied the man as Angeal returned his gaze forward. He was wrong, it wasn't hostility, no, it was apprehension, almost dread. Angeal was _not_ looking forward to his attempt with Genesis to 'patch things up' with Sephiroth. The thought of it appeared to stress the man out in a way Cloud had rarely seen.

The thought of that was awkward as hell in his mind. If anything Sephiroth was the one who needed to do that, if it was at all possible. He glanced down at the ocean again, contemplative. How was he going to act towards Sephiroth now that he thought about it? While thinking of the man no longer put him into rage or brooding depression, it was borderline impossible to actually fully let go of his hate for the man, but, he had admitted to Genesis how convoluted the whole thing was. To be frank... he almost kind of pitied him. He could have stayed a general and a hero if people hadn't drove him to madness.

He shook his head. He'd 'try' to keep civil if Sephiroth did the same, but he wasn't afraid to give as good as he got. If Sephiroth tried anything though, he would readily drive First Tsurugi through the man's skull. He would take no chances with a pregnant Aerith being there.

They flew for a time, in silence, until the shore of the western continent came into view. They flew to the southern tip, and there, at the top of a hill, was their destination. A soft smile came to Cloud's lips at the sight of what looked like a tavern that hadn't been there before resting on the hill. Tifa was always comfortable behind a bar, figured she'd return to a familiar lifestyle. Though, with the tavern being out here, he couldn't imagine she got much business. Though, that isolation was probably intentional.

The building was two-story and looked to be made of oak, or whatever the surrounding forest had for trees. It was olden looking, not constructed in the same manner most buildings, even wooden ones, were these days. He figured that Tifa had personally helped to build it. She was always a hands on kind of girl after all. The building was unpainted, keeping it's natural brown, unpolished wood look. Like the original Seventh Heaven had, there was a porch, though it was a bit larger, having a table on one side that people could eat outside at, and two chairs on the other that people could just rest on. It had two windows on the front of the building with the porch.

As they set down outside the tavern, he noted there was no sign or name for the building displayed anywhere. He was briefly surprised she hadn't named it Seventh Heaven, but then again, that name probably held to many memories and pain for her. He cocked his head, hearing the faint sound of a generator running behind the building. To the left side of the building was a large storage shed. To the right was a large open spot of dirt, the grass having been cleared away. The dirt was scuffed up, had tons of footprints, handprints, and sword marks in it. He figured Tifa and Sephiroth sparred there. Though, he was a bit surprised they fought so close to the tavern.

"Well, shall we?" asked Aerith, looking at Cloud expectantly.

He nodded and took point. "Yeah."

They walked up the steps to the porch, to the door, and opened it, a soft jingle of a bell announcing their entry. At first, the inside reminded him faintly of the original Seventh Heaven. The wooden plank floor, the tables with stools instead of chairs. The bar however was a bit different. It was higher up, almost chest high, with higher bar stools than he recalled. The collection of beverages held behind the bar along the wall was much more expansive then either Edge's or the original Seventh Heaven had. There was both a door next to the bar, and a sliding window that allowed a brief glance into what looked like a backroom kitchen. The room was lit by a hanging ceiling fan. There were stairs to the side of the kitchen door, leading up to the second story, and down into a basement.

At the bar mixing a drink, with her back turned to them, was Tifa. "Be with you in a minute!"

Cloud smiled softly at that familiar tone. Tifa didn't seem down or depressed at first glance or at first sound of her voice. Though, he was very much surprised that she had her wing out compacted tightly to her body. He'd have figured she'd hide it away when it wasn't in use, like Angeal, Genesis, and Zack did, especially in a public setting. He also noted she had adopted a somewhat different set of leather clothing. It was similar in make and design to her old pair, but, a bit tougher looking, and instead of pure black, it had a red tint to it. Same with her gloves. Her arms were a bit more covered than before, the clothing extending to a bit below her elbows rather than being completely bare on her arms. He could faintly see a red undershirt sticking out from under the leather as well.

Yet... something 'felt' odd about Tifa. It was like... there was a second presence around her. Not Sephiroths, and not her own, but similar, it was the strangest sensation...

"We got customers Seph," Tifa called through the kitchen window.

"I'm not deaf," came Sephiroth's voice from the kitchen, followed by the sound of what Cloud thought to be a stove being turned on.

"Could have fooled me sometimes," came Tifa's teasing reply.

"Hmph," was all Sephiroth spared in response.

Cloud frowned briefly. Seph? That was... a rather familiar tone and a nickname... and the way she bantered with him...

Zack smirked. "Sephs in the kitchen? I didn't know he could cook."

"You'd be surprised, we all had to learn to cook, if only to avoid what Shinra served and not empty our bank accounts on take-out," said Angeal with chagrin, "Though, him being a chef is... surprising."

Tifa went still at their voices, her body going rigged, tension rocketing down her spine. She did not turn, her entire body screaming apprehension and unease.

Sephiroth however, didn't seem phased by their arrival, his head appearing at the window to glare at Zack and Angeal. "I heard that."

"Oops, busted," answered Zack, a cheeky grin on his face.

Sephiroth briefly turned his head to look at Tifa, studying her. "I believe it is rude to leave guests unattended."

Tifa glared at him.

"You had to know they would come eventually," said Sephiroth, unsympathetic, before disappearing back into the kitchen.

Tifa cleared her throat and half turned her head, forcing a plain even tone into her voice, "Have a seat, menus are on the tables, I'll be with ya'll in a moment."

Cloud suddenly felt a bit guilty. Tifa had sounded happy and content, then the moment she realized who had walked in the door, it was gone. Aerith walked past him to the nearest table, shooting him a look. He followed suit and sat down next to her, Zack on the other side, and Angeal across from him.

Cloud couldn't help but watch Tifa as she sullenly went about finishing her current beverage mix. She glanced at it heavily for a moment, before, to Cloud's surprise, she downed the entire large glass in one go and then sighed heavily. She definitely wasn't looking forward to this, he again felt guilty again as she moved to step out from behind the bar and...

His mind went completely blank when Tifa rounded the bar started towards them with a pad of notepaper and a pencil to take their orders. He could not help but stare at her enlarged stomach. Shock rippled through his body, followed by disbelief, horror, and then rage. She... she was pregnant? Had... had Sephiroth forced himself on her?! Gods... what had he done leaving her by herself with that man?

Cloud was half way out of his seat, eyes on the kitchen door, hand on his sword's handle before Tifa barked, "Sit down!"

Cloud froze for a moment, glancing at her with confusion.

Tifa cleared her throat and gave him a pointed look. "I said sit, down, _now_."

He stared at her, bewildered, before slowly complying. "Tifa...?"

"I'm moving on with my life Cloud," she said, her voice harsh, "This is my home, he's my companion..."

She trailed off and moved a hand to her stomach. "And this is my child. I'll not tolerate anyone threatening what I've managed to have here, even you. If you so much as draw your weapon in here, or against Seph unprovoked, I will knock you through the wall myself, are we clear?"

Cloud stared at her, lost. Numbness overtook him as he realized with horrifying clarity what exactly Tifa was saying... she was... with Sephiroth willingly...

"Are. We. Clear?" demanded Tifa.

"Yeah," he said quietly, "We're clear..."

* * *

Aerith watched the exchanged with rapt attention. She shared a bit, no not a bit, pretty much all of Cloud's mortification and what she saw. She had known and felt it the moment she had first laid eyes on Tifa and stretched out her senses. That dual presence, the second one echoing from within her. It was a child, a child, she had Sephiroth had conceived a child. And what a child it was, it wasn't even born yet and it's presence was strong.

" _Impossible_ ," came Minerva's whisper in the back of her mind.

Aerith lost focus on her surroundings and turned her attention to the Goddess. "What's impossible?"

" _The Children of Calamity cannot bear offspring,_ " said Minerva with disbelief, " _It is impossible! I made it so!_ "

Aerith froze for a moment, before speaking to the Goddess in a dangerous tone. " _What do you mean, 'you made it so'?_ "

Minerva either didn't register the tone or disregarded it. " _They were denied access to the cycle of souls, they should not be able to conceive!_ "

Aerith clenched her fists in her lap and did her best not to explode out-loud. " _YOU WHAT?!_ "

Minerva went silent.

" _How could you try and do that to Tifa?_ " demanded Aerith, " _I could 'maybe' understand Sephiroth, but Tifa? How could you try and deny someone the right to have a child?_ "

" _You are blinded once again by your closeness with her, you do not understand the danger further Children of Calamity represent_ ," said Minerva.

" _Minerva..._ ," said Aerith, raising her voice angrily.

"If it upsets you that bad, then you can leave Aerith," came Tifa's cold voice.

Aerith blinked a few times and found Tifa staring at her hard, frustration clearly coating her face. "What? No, I'm not upset with you."

Tifa crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

Aerith wasn't going to dare say what Minerva had tried to do, she couldn't predict how Tifa, and perhaps even how Sephiroth, would react to that. But, that didn't mean she wasn't going to dig at the Goddess for doing such a horrible thing.

"Minerva isn't being as nice as she should be to a soon-to-be mother," said Aerith simply.

Tifa grew confused for a moment. "Minerva...?"

"The Goddess of Gaia," said Zack, scratching the back of his head, "She's the one that revived us."

Tifa scowled. "Well, your Goddess can keep her opinions to herself then."

"Agreed," muttered Aerith.

She cleared her throat and gave Tifa a hesitant smile, while she did not like the fact just whose child the woman was having, at all, it was no excuse to be rude. "Well, congratulations are in order I suppose."

Tifa stared at her for a moment before sighing. "You haven't changed a bit."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Aerith.

Tifa shook her head. "Forget it. Do you all have orders or not?"

Oh, she hadn't even looked at the menu, none of them had from the looks of it. Aerith kept a careful eye on Cloud. The man looked like he had gone into 'autopilot mode'. It reminded her, awfully, of how he had functioned after her death, to deal with the pain. When he was like this, not a hint emotion showed on his face. He kept himself controlled like an unfeeling machine and forced himself to go about his day. Watching him from the lifestream after her death had been a painful thing for her. This... what he was seeing and hearing now, hurt the man...

"That's a lot of fish options," murmured Angeal, looking over the menu.

"I thought you hated fish," called out Angeal towards the kitchen.

"I detest it's smell, there is nothing wrong with fish itself as a food," corrected Sephiroth, "Being so close to the ocean, there is little choice but to offer what is readily available."

Of all things that greatly surprised Aerith. She didn't know what was more shocking, that Tifa was with Sephiroth, or that Sephiroth was 'cooking' in the kitchen. From the top of SOLDIER, to world destroying madman and murder, to... chef at a tavern? She found her disbelief at the notion hitting a peak she didn't know existed.

"How'd you get him to cook?" asked Aerith in a very quiet voice.

"I am not deaf, ancient," came Sephiroth's voice, making her wince.

Tifa scoffed. "It was either I cook and he bartender, or the other way around, and no offense to him, but Seph as a bartender wasn't going to work."

To that, the One-Winged Angel did not comment.

There were so many questions Aerith had popping into her mind at the moment to ask Tifa, but, here and now wasn't the time or the place, especially with all the SOLDIER's enhanced hearing as Sephiroth so aptly proved they still had. She quickly glanced over the menu, picked one at random, and offered her choice and menu to Tifa. Zack and Angeal followed suit, leaving only Cloud, who was staring at his closed menu without a word. Oh boy... she hoped he wouldn't go the 'I'm not hungry' route...

"Do you still mix Heaven's Special?" Cloud asked quietly.

Tifa gave a brief nod and made a note before taking their menus, turning and walking away. "Drinks will be a minute."

Aerith did a quick subtle take of the table. Zack was humming a soft tune to himself. Angeal had a furrowed, thoughtful look on his face. Cloud was still closed off, just staring down at the table. She snuck a quick glance at Tifa, the tension in the woman's shoulder's was visible, and her wing itself looked tense and a bit ruffled. Aerith had expected a bit of a strain between them all at first, but, she had hoped to be able to get through it and help Tifa come to term with what had happened to her, as a friend.

But...

Tifa had already seemed to come to terms with it, and moved on. At least on the surface anyway, in a way that made Aerith question if things could ever go back to the way they had used to be. She had already had her doubts... but... what was growing in Tifa's womb put a heavy damper on the possibility. She could remember the times when they had all traveled together chasing after Sephiroth, how good friends they had been. She didn't want to have lost that...

Tifa returned with their drinks and set them down. "Here you are, enjoy."

"Really Aerith? Water?" teased Zack before offering his drink, "Why not live a little?"

Aerith gave him a look. "Zack, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to get me drunk."

Zack returned her look with an undignified one. "Am not! I'm just trying to 'broaden your horizons', have you ever even had beer or wine before?"

"Y-yes," she answered somewhat evasively.

Zack raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, no," confessed Aerith before stating matter-of-factually, "Doesn't matter anyway, pregnant woman shouldn't drink alcohol."

Tifa snorted at that before walking back to the bar. "If you say so."

Aerith winced a bit at that. "Erm..."

"I don't know what the effect is with WEAPONs," came Sephiroth's voice, "But alcohol has almost no effect on SOLDIERs of 1st Class tier."

There was a brief paused before Sephiroth added in. "I believe you can ask Angeal for confirmation on that fact."

Angeal coughed and choked on his drink a little bit.

"Ohhhh! That sounds like there's a story!" said Zack, eyeing Angeal with glee.

Angeal set down his drink. "We... might have cleaned out half a bar's stock when Genesis and I made 1st Class."

Zack cracked up at that, and Aerith offered a giggle.

"If I recall, we made a bet on how many drinks it would take for Sephiroth to get drunk," he mused.

"Oh, this I gotta hear, how many?" demanded Zack.

"They lost the bet," answered Sephiroth from the kitchen, "They couldn't manage the deed."

He grew cross. "No matter how many drinks they shoved down my throat."

Zack whistled. "Can't say I envy you man."

Sephiroth made a none-committal hum, but didn't respond.

Aerith couldn't help but sneak a glance in the kitchen's direction. The strangeness of the situation at hand finally hit her. How... odd... Sephiroth was acting. There was no taunting, no hostility, no attempted manipulation, at most there had been a slight jab, at Angeal rather than Cloud. Was this how he normally was when he wasn't an insane megalomaniac? If so... why was he suddenly acting like this?

She contemplated it for a moment before she realized that it wasn't exactly 'sudden'. She hadn't seen or heard of him in almost half a year. Was this... because of Tifa? She thought about it for a bit, and decided she'd need to get Tifa alone for awhile to get some answers out of her, if she was willing.

_DING DING_

Aerith turned her head to see Sephiroth hand out several plates through the kitchen window to Tifa. The woman brought over their food and set it down on the table. Aerith registered she had apparently ordered what might have been trout or something. It was oddly peculiar, to see the meat so neatly and perfectly arranged on the plate, a light seasoning on it, a helping of cauliflower to the side with a small cup of cheese to dip it into. She could admit, it smelt good, all of their food did. She took her first hesitant bite and found her mouth watering, oh it was good. She could tell Zack and Angeal were impressed with their meals too.

What a strange world, to be eating food made by the man who had killed her.

She slowly shook her head and finished her meal, pushing away the plate when she was done. "Whew..."

"You said it," said Zack, "Damn, why didn't you cook before Seph?"

"I did not know you well at first Zackery, and you never asked," was the man's reply, "Nor did I have the time after Lazard left."

"Fair enough," said Zack, scratching the back of his head, a hint of a frown on his face at the name 'Lazard'.

He shook his head. "Well, mad compliments to the chef."

Sephiroth gave another none-committal hum, but didn't respond otherwise.

Tifa came, collected their plates, and left for the bar, handing the plates through the window. She moved to the cash register, punched in a few numbers, and printed out a bill to hand back to them.

Zack stared at the bill for a moment. "Er... hey 'Geal, do you have any money on you?"

Angeal blinked a few times. "I... oh... being dead for awhile makes you forget about such things."

Aerith rubbed her forehead. "Oh boy..."

Tifa crossed her arms and gave them an annoyed look.

"I got it," said Cloud quietly, fishing out his wallet and handing the payment to Tifa.

Aerith gave Zack a pointed look. "You're going to need a job mister."

Zack sighed. "Yeah yeah yeah, and hey! I was helping you patch up Midgar, that's totally not fair!"

"I suggest, Zackery and Angeal, that you inquire with Rufus about the state of your bank accounts from your employment as SOLDIERS in Shinra," advised Sephiroth, "I was more than surprised to see that mine was still intact, with interest gained I might add."

Zack grinned full force. "Aww score! We're totally set Aerith."

Aerith's eyes furrowed. "Really? Just how much did SOLDIERs make?"

"You'd be surprised," said Angeal, "3rd class wasn't paid to much, but as you rose in ranks it started rising drastically. Especially when you make 1st Class. One of Shinra's methods of trying to keep willing employment from their top SOLDIERs."

"Greed is a universal motivator," muttered Aerith.

Zack feigned hurt. "Are you calling me greedy 'Rith?"

"Wouldn't dream of it Zack," she answered with a playful tone.

She glanced over as Cloud set his empty glass down with a thud, staring at it contemplatively. Slowly, he rose to his feet and made for the door.

"I'm going to head to Cosmo Canyon and check in on Red," said Cloud quietly.

"You want some company?" asked Angeal, "I've never actually been to Cosmo Canyon."

"Do what you want," said Cloud distantly.

Aerith bit her lip. Cloud wasn't even staying to talk to or inquire about Tifa...

She watched him go, Angeal on his heels.

She heard a soft sigh and turned to see a brooding Tifa behind the bar, arms crossed. "Some things never change with him."

Aerith hesitated for a moment before rising to her feet and walking to the bar, plopping up on one of the stools. "It's... kind of who he is I suppose."

Tifa gave her a dry look. "I'm more than aware. Walking, running, or riding away from things is a habit of his."

Aerith returned it with a weak smile. "So... how have you been?"

Tifa started washing some of her mixing glasses. "Fine I suppose."

There was an awkward silence for a minute before Aerith figured she'd have to be the one to initiate any conversation for the time being. "So, what have you been up to these last few months?"

Tifa shrugged. "We wandered the world for the first few months before I realized I was pregnant. Afterwards, we chose to make our home out here."

Aerith's eyes flickered to the kitchen window. There were so many questions to ask, but...

Apparently, Zack was either a mind reader, or was bored. "Heya Seph, wanna spar outside?"

There was silent for a moment before Sephiroth responded. "If you so wish, but be warned, I will not be pleased if this place is damaged."

"Yeah, sure, won't be a scratch," said Zack.

There was a few minutes of Sephiroth sounding like he was washing the dishes and shutting down the kitchen before he stepped out of the kitchen, his blade in hand. Aerith's heart skipped a beat at the sight of the sword in his hand so close to her. He however payed her no mind and simply walked out the door, Zack on his heels.

The moment the door was closed, Aerith turned to Tifa. "Tifa... what happened? How exactly did you two... I mean..."

Tifa gave her a cold look. "He was there for me, and he did not judge."

Aerith frowned. "Tifa, I never judged you. You've always been, and always will be, my dear friend."

Tifa stared at her for a moment, a brief look of disbelief crossing her, before her cold look faded and a softness took over. "Even after all of this? What I did?"

"That wasn't you Tifa," said Aerith softly, "The new Calamity twisted your memories. The same would have happened to anyone else if they had fallen into it's clutches."

Tifa sighed. "Pass me a stool."

Aerith grabbed the one next to her and handed it over. Tifa grabbed and put it down before plopping down with a heavy sigh.

"I'll admit, I can't honestly imagine Sephiroth as a... caring boyfriend or a loving man," admitted Aerith before adding in quickly, "No offense to him.

Tifa brooded for a moment before shaking her head. "To be honest, he's not. But, he understands and respects commitment and dedication, something that lingers from his old life. Once I admitted my pregnancy to him, he took full responsibility, I kind of admire that about him, he never shied or ran away from it."

She rolled her eyes. "Unlike someone else I know."

Aerith gave a tiny smile at that but didn't respond.

"We haven't really talked about it, but, I don't think he honestly ever had the time for none-professional relationship during his life. A lot of the things you'd expect just aren't there," said Tifa, "A passing hug or kiss, shows of affections, gifts, they just don't happen unless there's a specific reason for them."

She chuckled softly. "He's never said the words 'I love you'."

She leaned her head back. "Then again, neither have I. We respect one another, we share the same pained monstrous existence, and that's enough to make me content."

"You're not a monster Tifa," said Aerith sternly.

Tifa tilted her head back down, twiddled a bit of her silvery hair, motioned to her red catlike-eyes, and extended her wing a bit. "Then what exactly do you call me? Because I'm sure as hell not human anymore."

"I wing, unusual eyes, and a hair dye doesn't mean your not human," said Aerith, trying to be a bit humorous.

Tifa snorted at that and retracted her wing back to her side. "If you say so."

They grew silent for a few minutes. Aerith turned her head slightly, hearing the faint sound of swords clashing. She couldn't help but feel nervous for Zack...

"He'll be fine, Seph won't take him seriously enough to hurt him," said Tifa.

Aerith scoffed a little and came to her fiancee's defense. "Zack can handle himself."

"Not against Sephiroth he can't," said Tifa, "Whatever you thought of him and his abilities before is long since outdated. We've been sparing and fighting daily for months, though, we have toned it back since I entered my second trimester. He's grown far stronger, we both have, with an equal to constantly test ourselves against."

Aerith frowned uneasily. "Oh..."

The notion of a stronger Sephiroth was very troubling. Cloud had barely managed to go even with him when they had fought before the new Calamity arrived, if one could call that disaster an even fight. Now? She doubted anyone but herself could face him. Even then... she had yet to truly experiment with her newfound powers as the Holy WEAPON, not to mention refresh on her skills with a staff. She would be greatly out-skilled if it came down to a fight.

"He wont go back to what he was. Unless you intentionally mess with him he wont harm you," said Tifa quietly, "He's... moved on, just as I have."

There was a soft smile on her lips. "He has something to ground himself on, something the world finally offered him that wasn't treachery from Shinra, abandonment by those who were supposed to be his friends, Hojo's madness, or his Mother's desires. You'd have to spend time with him to see the quirks and the subtle hints, but, he enjoys this quiet life out here. He is..."

She searched for the word for a moment. "Content."

Aerith stared at Tifa, stunned by what she had said.

"I think, the notion of actually having a child just... I mean... I think he's...," Tifa began but stopped, thinking.

"He doesn't show it, but, I know him. He waits, day by day with slowly building anticipation. I think he's looking forward to it, he actually has something to look forward to for once in his life," she said quietly, "We both do."

"Tifa...," said Aerith sadly.

Tifa chuckled. "Though, he said if a scientist or a doctor or someone in a lab coat comes anywhere near our child he will gut them with an honest smile on his face."

Aerith slightly cringed at that. "Well... after Hojo I can understand the feeling."

Tifa leaned forward to look down over the counter at Aerith's stomach. "So what about you? How far are you along?"

"Umm, I'm in the second trimester as well," answered Aerith.

Tifa nodded before clarifying. "Zack's?"

Aerith nodded. "Yes."

"Well, I'm glad you two got a chance to restart your lives," offered Tifa.

"Thank you," said Aerith, giving her a warm smile.

"Shame your Goddess only revived you to fight Father and any further Calamities," said Tifa dryly, "She should have revived you far sooner, just to give you a second chance at life."

Aerith shrugged. "My time was over, as much as I hadn't wanted it to be. I'm grateful for what I have now."

Tifa studied her for a moment. "Nanaki and I... always thought you knew what was going to happen, that you had accepted it."

Aerith scowled. "No, I didn't go to the City of the Ancients expecting to be killed."

She looked down, a bit ashamed. "I... hadn't wanted to risk anything with Sephiroth having the ability to try and control Cloud."

"Oh," said Tifa quietly.

Aerith sighed. "I thought it was something I had to do alone. I was a fool. If I had just stayed with you all, you could have guarded the prayer, and together, we could have went to the Northern Crater and dealt with things then and there. I doubted in my friends, and I got myself killed for it and hurt all of you."

"He... really wasn't the same after you died," said Tifa quietly, "Even after I helped to try and put his true memories back together."

Aerith bowed her head. "Sorry."

Tifa shook her head. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

She hesitated. "I'm er... sorry about trying to kill you."

Aerith scolded her. "I told you, that wasn't you Tifa."

Tifa shrugged. "Still had to be said."

They grew silent again for a few minutes before Aerith asked, "Thought of any names?"

Tifa nodded. "I know exactly what I'm going to name her."

"Her?" asked Aerith.

Tifa looked a bit sheepish. "I uh... might have done a little probing with my senses, I'm pretty sure it's a girl."

"Aww, why'd you spoil it for yourself?" said Aerith teasingly.

Tifa put a hand on her stomach. "I couldn't help myself. I... I've been waiting for a child for so long now. Settling down and starting a family was something I had wanted after the whole Meteorfall mess."

"I can't wait for Jen to be born," whispered Tifa.

"G-E-N, Gen, it's a nice name," said Aerith.

"J-E-N actually," said Tifa.

Aerith paused. Jen? As in... really? Of course he'd name his child after his 'mother'.

She pursed her lips. "So, you let Sephiroth name her?"

Tifa blinked a few times, confused. "No? I chose the name."

"R-really?" asked Aerith, surprised, "Why Jen then?"

"It just...," Tifa began before blanking. "I don't know. It just felt right. No other name would be acceptable for her."

Aerith's eyebrows furrowed. Odd...

She frowned. Something felt... off... for a moment, with Tifa.

The woman narrowed her eyes at Aerith. "Is something wrong with that?"

"No, it's just... um...," began Aerith, "You know what, never mind."

"Speak, your, mind," said Tifa crossly.

"It's just... Jen, it sounds like a shorthand for... well...," she began before hesitating, knowing this was probably going to come back and bite her, "Jenova."

Tifa's eyes widened with shock, and then outrage. "I think it's time you left Aerith."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean...," began Aerith.

"You can come back another day, but right now, just go," said Tifa with barely restrained fury.

Aerith bowed her head and sighed. "I'm sorry."

Tifa said nothing, merely giving her a cold look.

Aerith got off the stool and made for the door, pausing to give an awkward, "Bye Tifa."

Tifa merely nodded, but didn't offer her own goodbye, her eyes tight, her lips pursed, her entire stance screaming 'angry'. Well, Aerith knew she had no one to blame but herself. She had firmly put her foot in her mouth as they say. Still... most of that visit had gone well, at least she thought so. Kind of...

Cloud was probably a wreck right now, and Tifa was pissed at her. Hopefully, Tifa would cool down in a few weeks, she did want to visit her again. She paused her thoughts, hearing the intense clash of swords and the ripple of unseen energy moving through the air. She strode off the porch and took at glance at the arena, spotting Sephiroth and Zack in a furious spar, both of them intensely focused on one another.

Zack had a green mako-like glow around both his body and his blade, moving at a speed she had never seen him move at before, not even when fighting Tifa. His blade swung with a heavy force, clashing against Masamune. Sephiroth, against what Tifa had said, looked to actually be putting a bit of effort into the spar, a slight bit of sweat on the man's forehead, but not nearly as much as Zack had covering him. She... had never seen Zack actually cut loose before, though, hadn't Sephiroth said not to risk damaging the tavern?

The two launched themselves away from one another and charged, both blades meeting in a heavy clash than sent a ripple of energy through the air. Aerith gave a yelp and was knocked on her back.

"Aerith? Wha...," began Zack before he yelped as well.

She glanced up, sighting Zack on the ground with Masamune resting lightly against his neck. "I'm impressed Zackery, you've grown much stronger as a WEAPON than you were as a SOLDIER at the reactor, but you should never allow yourself to be distracted in a fight."

Zack scowled and stood up when Sephiroth withdrew his sword. "Well, I guess your a bit stronger than you were at the reactor as well."

Sephiroth's lips quivered with amusement. "I suppose I am."

The energy surrounded Zack faded and he jogged over to Aerith, offering a hand. She let him help her up.

She took a sniff. "You mister are taking a bath when we get back."

Zack scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Ut oh, the misses says I stink."

Sephiroth gave a none-committal hum and walked back towards the tavern. "Until next time Zackery."

"Yeah... see you Seph," said Zack.

Sephiroth paused at the door before half turning. "Tell Genesis and Angeal that I am expecting them to show their faces here, together, at some point."

Zack winced a bit at that. "Yeah sure, I'll pass on the message."

Sephiroth nodded curtly before walking back inside.

"Erm, Aerith, we don't have a bath at the camp," whispered Zack.

"Well, that's fine, you said we'd be set right?" she said before speaking innocently, "You can buy or build us a house with all that SOLDIER money."

Zack coughed a bit, and laughed when she gave him a cheeky grin. "Oh man Aerith, I swear I'm a bad influence on you."

Aerith giggled a bit. "Maaaaybe."

Zack picked her up bridal style, extended his wing, and took off into the air. "Yeah, we'll build us a house, and I'm going to help you make an awesome garden too!"

Aerith smiled at the thought. "I'm looking forward to it."

With that, she closed her eyes and rested her head against his chest as they flew off into the sunset back towards the Eastern Continent...


	15. Birth of a Goddess

_Four months later..._

Sephiroth took his time in polishing the tables of his home. While he viewed the task as menial and beneath him, he would put up with it for the time being. Lockheart was not particularly in a condition as of the moment to be doing housework, as much as she was disgruntled by not being able to something so simple, though it was a matter of allowance rather than physical inability to. His eyes briefly flickered to the door, listening to the creaking of Lockheart in her rocking chair. As much as he could respect her desires, he would allow her no action that risked **_HIS_ ** child.

His eyebrows furrowed in thought. Most infants, from what he had taken the liberty of reading about, gestated for roughly nine months before they were born. His child was into it's tenth month. There were dangers in a pregnancy going beyond roughly forty-two weeks. As much as he found the images of the object he had seen during his research moderately disgusting, the placenta sustaining the child with nutrients from the mother generally would begin to weaken and eventually fail around that time. Or at least it would in humans. Truth be told, it was highly possible that being a Child of Calamity could alter the process. While he was a Child of Calamity, he had been born from a human mother, he could not use her as a base to judge Lockheart's pregnancy. Not that he knew much about it anyway.

Regardless, he kept a careful eye on Lockheart and his child, he had every day after she had told him. He glanced at his reflection in the the polished table, contemplating once more all that had transpired. It had been an... interesting... ten months.

The first few months after Lockheart had burned Nibelheim to the ground had been... curious. To see Lockheart begin to change, it was like a switch had been flicked. Some things at the core of who she was would never change, she still held her normal caring nature at times, but it was no longer freely given. One had to earn the right to her respect, rather than have it given by default. She instead treated strangers with a cautious eye and hidden distrust rather than a friendly greeting. She was a master of masking it of course, but it was easy for him to spot that watchful glint in her eye whenever they had encountered someone on the road or out in the wilderness. She distrusted humans, and rightly so.

They had gone to Wutai, and tracked down the very man who had made Masamune. His lips curled in delight at the memory of the terror that had played across the blacksmith's face when he had walked into the man's workshop. The term 'a ghost from the past' was aptly fitting. The man had readily agreed to make Lockheart a blade, if only out of self-preservation purposes. It amused Sephiroth greatly how humans would put notions in their own head, after all, he had no intentions of harming the man unless he did something extraordinarily stupid. It was the least courtesy he could offer for the man who had crafted his treasured blade. The man had worked day and night until at last, he had presented Lockheart her blade.

Muramasa.

He had seen other swords that bore that name, or used the name as 'type of blade, and if he recalled, there were even old Wutian legends and depictions about the first blade to bear that name. They called the original a cursed sword, a demon's blade. Yet none fit the name as well as the blade when Lockheart first drew it from it's sheath for inspection. Where Masamune was simple in design, but deadly, Muramasa was elegant, and screamed of death. The handle was black, a small dark gray handle-guard separating it and the blade. The flat of the blade was dark red, almost like blood, leaking down to the dark gray sharp of the blade. It was shorter in length than Masamune, to be sure, but still had a far greater reach than the average sword.

Of course, she did not yet have the skill and experience to properly wield such a magnificent blade, oh how he hungered to face her when she reached her prime with that weapon. They had steadily been working on that as they wondered the world, at least until she had confessed her pregnancy to him.

Sephiroth sat down and scowled at his reflection, agitated by the memory. He had stared at her in a blank stupor, confused and baffled by her statement. Up until that point, he had thought having children was impossible for him, the notion never registered in his mind. Hojo had implied to him in the past that his unique existence had made him infertile, and that relationships with the opposite sex would be a pointless waste of time and effort. Of course, when he stopped to think about it, he recognized it as just one of the many ways Hojo had tried to keep him isolated and under his thumb in his days as a SOLDIER. He sorely, once again, wished he had been the one to kill Hojo. The death the man received at AVALANCHE's hands wasn't _nearly_ as _slow_ and _painful_ as it should have been.

Of course, since he had been led to believe he could never father a child, he could admit that he had little to no knowledge on the subject and everything relating to it. But, there was no challenge, and no obstacle that _HE_ could not learn to overcome...

He slowly looked up and raised his arms into the air, spreading them, palm's upward, as he gazed around. "And this _perfection_ , is proof of that."

Perfect architecture, perfect make, perfect positioning, and far enough away from civilization that they would not often be bothered. A place where they could spread their wings and never hide who they were, the few who ventured this far either got over it or left. There was ample wildlife to hunt and fish to catch. Vegetation was everywhere, wild fruits and vegetables could easily be found with a quick walk down the hill and into the woods. Not that they needed that much to eat compared to humans, the superior beings that they were. Their selection of beverages that he had purchased and stored within their wine cellar was extraordinary, and would last them decades, not that they could get drunk, but, it was aside from the point. He had even allowed Lockheart the comfort of a bar to work behind when they did have visitors. He found it curious of how such a simple thing as standing behind a bar and mixing drinks could set the woman at ease. A relic of her old life he supposed, but a relic that he let her have. It was a simple existence and life here, but it made him content. It would be perfect for his child to be raised in.

Lockheart herself was... a curious companion after they had moved here. The brooding silence he had begun to attribute to her faded away, and she began to talk to him, frequently. At times, she reminded him of Zackery, speaking to him in familiar and comfortable tones. Not to mention when she started calling him 'Seph' and teasing him. He allowed it, if only for comforts sake. Not that he minded it too much, it was a reminder of a distant and better past, before Genesis had gone off and dragged Angeal with him in his mad escapades...

"Sephiroth," came Lockheart's voice, a hint of urgency to it.

Sephiroth broke off his thoughts, eyebrows furrowing. She never called him by his full name anymore unless something important was going on. He was out the door and on the porch in an instance. Nothing seemed off...

Lockheart pointed off the porch and into the air, and he followed with his eyes to see two figures flying down towards them...

Sephiroth's lips curled into an almost menacing grin. So, Genesis and Angeal had decided to come at last.

"Looks like your friends have decided to finally come pay you a visit," said Lockheart.

"I'm ' _thrilled_ '," he said dryly, stepping off the porch.

"No damage to the building, please," she called off after him.

Sephiroth made a none-committal hum and strode a bit from the porch, waiting until Genesis and Angeal descended and landed in front of him, withdrawing their wings.

"Sephiroth," said Angeal, giving him a curt nod.

Genesis glanced once at Sephiroth, once at Lockheart, before returning to the silver-haired man, a smug grin on his face. "Who would have thought it, the 'great Sephiroth' settling down with a woman."

Angeal coughed. "Genesis, civil."

Sephiroth eyed the two briefly before walking past them. "Come."

"What? No greetings for old friends?" mocked Genesis lightly.

"Friends would be the questionable term," said Sephiroth.

There was a heavy silence, odd coming from Genesis, as the two followed him around the house. He led them to the generator and turned to face them. He had chosen this place, because while he had come to trust and respect Lockheart, this was a _personal_ matter that he did not want her overhearing or intruding on. There were many choice words and desires running through his mind at the moment, the most desired one being the urge to throttle the two of them. Instead, he merely leaned against the generator and waited, his arms crossed.

Angeal stood a bit from him, an uncertain look on his face.

Genesis, in his usual fashion, leaned against the building, drew his copy of LOVELESS, and started reading. "Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess, we seek it thus, and take to the sky, ripples form on the water's surface, the wandering soul knows no rest."

Sephiroth resisted the urge to sigh and roll his eyes. "Act one."

"You remembered," said Genesis, seeming amused.

Sephiroth went silent, a memory tickling him. Of the last time the three of them had truly stood together in the VR room back in Shinra HQ...

"Are you expecting me to say: 'How can I not after you've beaten into my head'?" he asked dryly, "Drop the dramatics Genesis, I do not live to re-enact the past."

Genesis frowned briefly before closing his book. "Come now Sephiroth, can't indulge me for old times sake?"

"No," he answered.

Genesis rolled his eyes. "Still so serious and to the point, even after all these years."

"Still prone to dramatics, even with so small an audience," said Sephiroth before jabbing, "Or is that because you turned most of your 'audience' into clones and sent them off to die?"

Genesis scoffed. "Says the man who had clones created sent to 'reunite' with him."

Well played.

Sephiroth's lips curled into a grin. "That was Hojo's doing, for the most part. I merely discovered the clones and pulled them in."

He reflected briefly. "Or rather, Mother did. I was resting within the Northern Crater for most of the time up to the end of Meteorfall."

Genesis raised an eyebrow. "Feigning innocence are we?"

"Nothing of the sort Genesis, anything and everything that I did, or Mother did at my behest, I will readily admit to," countered Sephiroth, "I am no innocent."

His eyes shined cruel as they flickered to Angeal. "The only innocent here in regards to turning those who had once trusted them into clones I suppose would be Angeal. Instead, his sin was abandoning his apprentice in the middle of a war zone and eventually forcing him to murder him."

Angeal flinched at that, and that was Sephiroth's cue to pounce.

He uncrossed his arms, strode up to Angeal in two long and swift steps, narrowed his eyes, and spoke one word with a tone of pure ice, " _Coward_."

"Sephiroth I...," began Angeal.

"Genesis was degrading and going mad, I was driven insane by someone supposed to be my friend, by my mother, and by Hojo's lies. What was your excuse Angeal?" asked Sephiroth, "Out of the three of us, _you_ , should have remained the most in control. Instead, you commit an act so cruel, forced someone who loved you to kill you."

He smiled cruelly. "I admit, I'm impressed. You destroyed your apprentice. If not for the Ancient comforting him, I wonder how well he would have taken that blow. Would he have followed you, I wonder, into death's embrace? I trust Zackery would have at least had the honor and pride to do it himself rather than force another to do it for him."

"Your point's been made Sephiroth," said Angeal, his voice coarse.

"Has it? I don't see you on the ground begging for forgiveness yet," taunted Sephiroth.

Angeal went silent for a moment before he forced out, "Nor will you."

"Hmph," said Sephiroth before turning his attention to Genesis.

"So, what choice words do you have for me, old friend?" inquired Genesis nonchalantly.

Sephiroth stared at him for a time, choosing his words carefully, before he spoke them, "Genesis. You were always an infuriating and insufferable man. Quoting LOVELESS every chance you got, questioning me constantly, aggravating beyond belief. Yet, you were still one of the very few people I ever chose to call a friend, so I ask: Why?"

"Why what?" asked Genesis.

"Why did you not come to me?" said Sephiroth coldly, "Why did you go to _Hollander_ of all people?"

Genesis shrugged and flapped a hand in the air. "Wounded pride and bitterness, both towards you I suppose."

"Even with your body destroying you from the inside?" demanded Sephiroth.

"Especially with that," answered Genesis.

Sephiroth slowly shook his head. "Why am I not surprised? You could be bleeding out before me, and I could have a Full Cure in my hands, and you'd refuse _my_ help."

Genesis smirked. "Would you have me any other way?"

"Dangling off of Masamune is a tempting answer to that question," said Sephiroth, forcing his tone to be dead serious and not show a hint of amusement on his face.

As expected, there was a hesitance that entered Genesis's face. Good. The man deserved to squirm.

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. "Genesis. I expect an honest answer. At what point in your mad venture did you learn of Jenova? Of Project S?"

Genesis shrugged. "Fairly early on."

"And you did not think to enlighten me on that subject until it came to the point where such information only served to help drive me mad?" demanded Sephiroth.

Genesis scowled. "In-case you didn't realize it, Sephiroth, I hadn't come to you in Nibelheim to drive you insane. I had sucked in my pride enough to come seeking your help."

"A rather curious way to go about asking for it," answered Sephiroth.

"Yes, well your 'you will rot' answer to my request proved that point didn't it?" said Genesis bitingly.

"What did you exactly expect?" demanded Sephiroth, "Greeting me and Zackery with an attack. Accusing me and Mother of being monsters, regardless of the validity of that statement, mocking me the entire time, and having the audacity to ask for my help afterwords?"

"Genesis, Sephiroth," said Angeal in a warning tone.

Sephiroth waved him off. "Stand down Angeal, you're not silencing this argument, not this time."

Angeal took a hesitant step back.

Genesis looked a bit ruffled. "I wasn't in the right mind, my body was tearing itself apart. You have no concept of the agony that was."

"I'm fairly certain Genesis, that dying several times, the lifestream trying to force me to give up my sense of self and fade away, and forcing myself to reform out of the lifestream each time, is a comparable experience," said Sephiroth dryly.

"That, was ultimately your choice, my degradation was nothing I ever chose for myself," huffed Genesis.

"How you dealt with it was," countered Sephiroth.

"What do you want me to say Sephiroth?" demanded Genesis before flapping his hands dramatically in the air, "That I'm ' _sorry_ '? Fine, you have my apologies. I screwed everything up. Does that make you content?"

Sephiroth scoffed. "If I wanted an apology out of you Genesis, I would extract it with Masamune's edge. What I want, is 'why'."

Genesis looked incredulous. "That's it? I already spelled it out, did I not?

"Was pride, madness, degradation, and desperation all that truly drove you Genesis?" asked Sephiroth.

Genesis snorted. "You forgot to mention knowledge of the good professors' pet projects."

"And the Jenova Project," added in Sephiroth dryly.

Genesis leaned his head back in thought before nodding. "I suppose that's as good a list as any. Revenge against Shinra could be added, but then we're just 'nit picking'."

Sephiroth stared at Genesis, not betraying a hint of his thoughts anywhere on his face; slowly, he turned to face Angeal, awaiting the other half of the answer. "And you?"

Angeal closed his eyes and sighed. "I suppose... my inability to come to terms with what had been done to me, what I was. I saw myself as a monster, and I couldn't bear to live as such."

Sephiroth gave him a hard stare. "Out of the three of us, you are the only one, that I can recall, who never so much as committed a truly monstrous act, save for your final one."

Angeal's wing burst out of his back, extending upwards.

Sephiroth scoffed and extended his own. "If you're expecting that to be a compelling argument Angeal, you are mistaken. It's not an argument, it's an excuse, and I would have expected better of you."

"Could you handle your own mother using you as an experiment? Someone who had raised you and was supposed to have loved and protected you?" demanded Angeal.

Sephiroth deadpanned. "Lucrecia?"

"Did not raise you," countered Angeal.

"No, she did something far worse, leaving me to Hojo," said Sephiroth with distaste.

Angeal went silent for a moment before offering, "A fair enough statement."

"So, was it simple cowardice and fear that drove you Angeal?" mocked Sephiroth, "Frightened of what you were, what you could be?"

Angeal frowned, but said nothing.

"Yet, as with Genesis, not once did you come to me," said Sephiroth, a hint of anger in his voice, "Not once did you seek my aid nor my counsel. Genesis? He I could grudgingly accept going alone, but you? You Angeal? That you would turn your back on _me_ as well without so much as a word?"

"Sephiroth...," began Angeal quietly.

"I am not finished Angeal," Sephiroth all but hissed out, "Genesis never so much as gave me a hint of hope after he left. But you? When you worked with us briefly during the Midgar Raid? I had hopes that you might see reason, that you might return to us, return to _me_ , only for you to go off to Modeoheim and die."

"And on that note," said Sephiroth with a deadly tone, taking a step forward, his eyes narrowing dangerously, "Were you truly so honorless and gutless by that point that you forced Zackery to kill you? That you turned yourself into the monster you feared yourself becoming to force him to do so?"

Angeal said nothing, his face a bit pale.

"You could have at least had the courtesy to run yourself through with the Buster Sword and left it at that," snarled Sephiroth, "I would have been less disappointed if that had been the case. For when I read the report, when I heard what happened, I was more angry and disappointed by what you had done, then saddened by your death."

Angeal bowed his head. "Sephiroth..."

"You will look me in the eye when you speak to me, SOLDIER," growled Sephiroth.

Angeal forced himself to do so. "There is nothing that I can say or do that will excuse what I did Sephiroth, I'm not even going to try. It would only be poor excuses that I could offer. I wont ever ask forgiveness for what I've done, not from you, and not from Zack, I don't deserve it."

Sephiroth eyed him critically, hunting for lies or avoidance, before he relaxed and returned to his original position by the generator, satisfied.

"And what of you, oh mighty Sephiroth?" mocked Genesis, "We two are guilty, yes, but what of you?"

Sephiroth glanced at him, frowning. "Me?"

"Yes, you were...," began Genesis before a distasteful look crossed his face, "You were always the ' _strongest_ ' of us. How could you fall to Jenova's will and madness?"

Sephiroth scoffed. "Even the greatest of buildings falls without the proper support. You two left me with _nothing_ and _no one_."

He shot Angeal a look. "And don't you dare suggest that Zackery could stand in for either of you. He did not train with me, grow in SOLDIER with me, fight at my side and cover my back during early Wutai. Did not spend alongside me all those hours in our offices, giving one another company."

"If you two did not realize what you used to mean to me, then you are both blind, and are fools," said Sephiroth, "When I first died and dove into the lifestream, absorbing it's knowledge, discovering the truth about myself. I could have returned as I was, tried to retake my original life, but I had nothing waiting for me save for Hojo's insanity and Shinra's greed. So I willingly dove into that madness, and adopted Mother's crusade as my own."

"I will not however offer excuses or try to pass over what I did," said Sephiroth, "I murdered a great deal of people, caused immense suffering, and nearly led the world to ruin."

A cruel smile played across his face. "And I took great delight in what I did."

Genesis and Angeal were silent.

"So if you are expecting me to be repentant, you are sorely mistaken," said Sephiroth.

The three of them stood at a stand off, all of them tense. The confessions had all been made, the reasons given, their reactions to what they did laid bear. Where it would go from here, he did not know. Sephiroth wondered which of the three of them would be the first to break the silence.

It turned out that none of them would be the answer.

He went still as a pained cry suddenly filled the air, emanating from the front of the house. He registered Lockheart's voice before he took off, Angeal and Genesis on his heels. He found her kneeling on the floor of the porch, her hands out for support, a pained look on her face, water or some other fluid coating the floor around her. His mind registered what happened and the implications of it within seconds. Her 'water broke'. She would be going into labor. It was time.

His child was about to be born.

He had her picked up and in his arms in second. "Angeal, Genesis, make yourselves useful. There are towels in the kitchen in the back, and blankets upstairs. Go."

The two men obeyed without word or complaint and went inside. Years of obeying commands in serious situations would do that to someone, he was oddly glad they hadn't lost that for the moment.

"S-seph...," whispered Lockheart, "I can _feel_ her..."

Sephiroth paused briefly, cocking his head. It took him a second to understand and register what she was saying. The second presence, that of his child, that emanated from her was stiring. It was waking up. It was ready.

He walked into their home and waited until Genesis and Angeal had made a bed of blankets and towels before setting her down. He stripped off her lower clothes and shot the two other men a warning look to allow Lockheart her modesty. They re-positioned themselves behind her and waited.

"Loc... 'Tifa'," he began, correcting himself since he was in her presence, "Relax and ready yourself."

She shot him a hostile look. "Lets see you 'ready yourself' when you..."

She cringed, her entire body tensed. "Oh god... fuck fuck fuck!"

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow as she had her first contraction and began unleashing a string of curses that would have made her gun-armed friend proud. "Does it truly hurt more than Masamune's edge?"

She shot him a hostile look. "YES!"

He made a none-committal hum as a response, not pleased to be beaten out by something so natural as childbirth, but said nothing else. He watched her carefully, noting how tense her shoulders were.

"Angeal, shoulders," ordered Sephiroth.

Angeal hesitated before kneeling down behind her and putting his hands on her shoulders, attempting a light massage to relax her. Lockheart tensed even more for a second before shivering and trying to relax. She licked her lips and took in a ragged breath...

"Genesis, get her water," ordered Sephiroth.

"Yes General Midwife sir," mocked Genesis with a grin.

Sephiroth couldn't quite recall the last time he wanted to gut Genesis as much as he did now, shooting the man a hostile look before he went to the kitchen. Genesis returned a moment later and positioned a glass of water for Lockheart to drink. She offered no thanks, her entire focus on her stomach. She cringed, her face contorting with pain.

"Tifa, you need to pu...," began Sephiroth.

"Tell me to push, and I'll knock you through the wall!" she hissed out at him, "I fucking know!"

He went silent, a bit amused by her skyrocketing temper. "Very well. Do what you know to do then."

She glared at him before closing her eyes and cringing again, trying to push. "Gnnnnaaah."

Sephiroth waited patiently as Lockheart struggled with herself, watching her take quick and deep ragged breaths between her attempts to deliver... and what was Angeal doing?

He watched as behind the woman, Angeal kept shooting him looks and then turning his head to stare at her knees. Sephiroth stared at him, confused, before Angeal briefly took his hands off her shoulder and clasped them over one another.

Ah, he understood, as much as he found the notion distasteful.

He hesitated for a second, not quite sure how to go about it, before he put a hand on her knee, and ' _attempted_ ' to be comforting. "If you could survive fighting Cloud, myself, and all his friends, you can survive giving birth."

Angeal and Genesis both cringed.

Lockheart glared at him. "Sephiroth. Shut. Up."

Hrm... he thought that would have been encouraging, but apparently not. His skills in such regards he could admit weren't the greatest.

He froze briefly when Lockheart brought her arms to her stomach and screamed. Sephiroth swore he could hear tearing with his enhanced hearing. She screamed and cried, blood starting to leak out of her, as she pushed, paused to take deep breaths, and pushed more, repeating the process over and over again as minutes passed by. He would have thought just getting it over with and pushing the child out at once would have been easier that these constant bouts, but he could admit he wasn't a woman, he didn't truly know. He waited patiently as she struggled through it, ten minutes... twenty minutes... thirty minutes... and then...

With a strangled cry, Lockheart gave her deepest contraction yet, and loudest scream. Sephiroth's heart skipped a beat as he saw a tuft of silvery hair begin to push out of her. It was coming.

He was there, his arms as a bed, as Lockheart finally pushed the child out. Again, as he stared at his blood and goop covered child, he felt his heart skip a beat in a way he didn't think it ever had before. The child took a gasp of breath and let out a fitful cry.

Sephiroth turned his head to glance at a towel under Lockheart. "Give me one."

Genesis knelt down to toss him a towel. Sephiroth cradled the child against himself with one arm, and began cleaning off the child, desperate to get a better look at her. She was decently large and more developed for a newborn, to his knowledge, he could see why Lockheart screamed as she did. Perhaps... what did the humans call it, 'C-Section?' would have been a better route and less dangerous, not that they were near a civilized hospital, Junon having the only one he could think of. The infant had on her a tuft of silvery hair, her catlike eyes a mixture of green on the outside like his, and crimson red near the irises like her mother's. To his curiosity, the infant was born with a small black and red feathery wing, rather than drawing it out later in life.

"Uh, Sephiroth," said Angeal.

He paid him no mind, continuing to study the child, analyzing her every nook and cranny. Poking her arms, examining her fingers and toes. He had never before found himself to curious and interested in something before. Yet, how could he not? She was **_HIS_** , something born of him, and Lockheart too he supposed. He had allowed her to name the child after all. Jen if he recalled correctly.

"Sephiroth," said Angeal sternly, "Do you two have potions anywhere?"

Sephiroth glanced at him briefly. "In a storeroom in the cellar, why?"

Genesis coughed. "Because, your wife looks like she's bleeding out at the moment, in-case you didn't notice."

Sephiroth glanced down at Lockheart, noting how dazed she seemed, quietly sobbing to herself; he could admit, there was quite a bit of blood pooled underneath her. "For one, we're not married. For two, she's more than capable of healing on her own. We've both bled more when we fought at Mideel."

Angeal raised an eyebrow. "Sephiroth, your lucky she's out of it, otherwise I'm fairly certain she'd hit you through the wall for that comment."

Sephiroth frowned, a bit confused, he had only stated the obvious. "Why?"

"Married or not, showing a bit of concern for your significant other is kind of an important thing," said Angeal, "Especially after they just gave birth."

Sephiroth made a none-committal hum and resumed studying the infant in his arms. "There should be an elixir or two in the storeroom."

Sephiroth paused his examination when he noted a peculiarity. Infants were said to cry a lot when they were born. It was, he had read, to take air into their lungs for the first time. It was also used to get attention, to alert the parent when they were hungry, or needed something, or to express discontent. To be frank, crying was one of the only ways an infant could communicate. He had mentally prepared himself up until this point to have to listen to day in and out for years to come.

Yet Jen hadn't cried or made any other noise after her first initial breath. Nor had the infant fallen asleep. Her eyes were wide open and, to his surprise, trying to examine herself just as he had been. He watched, curiously, as the infant tried to move her hands and feet, small little flinches all she was able to do. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and she made a discontent gurgle. He reached his free hand up and brushed a bit of her hair, twiddling it between his fingers. That caught her attention, and the infant's eyes turned up to meet his. For a moment, Sephiroth froze. Her eyes seemed far to aware and focused for an infant, an intelligence there that did not belong in something so newly born.

How curious.

He broke eye contact with his offspring and glanced over as Angeal returned from the basement, popped open an elixir, and helped Lockheart down it. The woman cringed and coughed repentantly, a distasteful look on her face. He knew from experience those things did not taste the best. Amusing.

The woman cringed and started contacting again. It took him a moment to recall way, sighting the cord like appendix still connected to his child's belly from within Lockheart. He wrinkled his nose in distaste as she pushed the placenta out of her and took a heavy sigh of relief, leaning back to rest on the blankets, panting with exertion. Sephiroth took the initiative afterwords and squeezed the cord near his child's stomach, pinching it off and disconnecting it. The rest would wither and fall off at some point.

Hmm... he supposed he ought to offer Lockheart something. "Well done Tifa."

Lockheart took in a deep breath and slowly forced herself to sit up, first to glare at him, and then, her face softening immensely as she looked at her child and held out her hands. "Giver her... to me..."

Sephiroth studied Lockheart critically for a moment, wondering if she should be doing anything but resting so soon after birth, even with an elixir. He grudgingly decided to obey, slowly and carefully passing Jen over to her. He supposed it was a mother's right to hold their child. He would have time, unmeasured time yet to come, to hold, raise, and mold that child as he so pleased.

Despite having been screaming her head off mere minutes ago, the moment Lockheart held the child close to her, a deep smile played across her face. He wasn't sure he had ever seen her smile like this since... ever...? At least before he had known her anyway. He watched, as Lockheart brought a finger up to brush against the child's face before playing with Jen's lips, making a cooing sound. The infant blinked, looking confused by the gesture. Lockheart merely smiled in response.

Satisfied that she wouldn't pass out or drop the infant on accident in a weakened state, her turned to the other matter at hand. The mess. He glanced down with distaste at the 'afterbirth' before a rather cruel idea hit him.

"Genesis, take care of that," he ordered.

Genesis made a disgruntled noise in the back of his throat. "Me?!"

"Yes, you, make yourself useful and dispose of it, fire is your specialty, isn't it?" Sephiroth inquired.

Genesis scoffed. "Your child, you deal with it."

"You're both children," said Angeal before giving a sigh, grabbing a towel, wrapping the thing up, and taking it outside.

"I suppose that leaves you to mop then," said Sephiroth, giving Genesis an utterly cruel smile.

Genesis scowled. "This wasn't what I came here to do."

"I believe the term is 'life happens'?" said Sephiroth, "The mop is in a closet in the kitchen."

He could not help but feel smugly satisfied as the man muttered under his breath and left for the kitchen. He refocused and watched as Lockheart continued to examine and lightly play with her child. He might have been content to let her continue, save for the smudge of blood she had just put on his child's cheek.

Sephiroth cleared his throat. "Lockheart, you should clean yourself up."

She paused to glare at him. "I'm _busy_ with my child, I can do that later."

"Oh, so you prefer being half-dressed when we have guests about? Stained with blood, which you happen to be getting on the child?" he inquired.

Deep red embarrassment played across her face before she scowled at him. "Fine, hold her, I'll go take a quick shower."

Lockheart wearily got to her feet and handed Jen off to him, shakily making for the stairs. She took one last fleeting look back, before going up. The shower was on a minute later. Sephiroth could admit, he had been led to believe based on his readings most woman wouldn't be moving on their own for the first day after giving birth. His eyes flickered to the floor. Especially after such blood loss. Then again, Lockheart wasn't exactly human anymore, and was a particularly strong and powerful female regardless.

He deeply frowned as he registered a mistake he had made. He glanced at the pile of towels before leaning down and grabbing one of the few clean ones, picking it up and carefully wrapping Jen in it for warmth. It should have been one of the first few things he had done. He mentally scolded himself for it before moving to sit at the bar. Nourishment would be the next thing she would need, and that would require Lockheart. Sleep would be next, as birth could be just as trying as an experience for the child as the mother, moving into a new existence.

Curiously though, the infant showed no signs of being tired, discomforted, or well... anything. She merely laid in his arms, her eyes flickering to study her surroundings.

"Hmm... do you wish to see your home?" he inquired.

Jen's eyes flickered briefly up to his before she made a gurgling sound. He took that as a 'yes', not that an infant would understand him, and rose. He went into the kitchen, pausing briefly to allow Genesis to pass with a bucket and a mop. He noticed an oddity, as the infant's eyes landed on Genesis. There was almost a distasteful look in her eyes, and a disquieted gurgle in his general direction. Curious.

He walked around slowly, allowing the child's eyes to linger on anything she so desired. When he finished, he took her back into the dining area, and walked along it's outskirts, giving Genesis a wide birth. The child's eyes roamed the room, not displaying any wonder at what she saw, simply taking it in. He moved to a window and shifted her to allow her to peer out. She did so silently.

_Thud thud thud._

He turned his head to see Lockheart coming down the stairs in a hurry, moderately cleaned up and wearing a spare set of her leather clothing. She paused briefly to study him and Jen, a soft smile on her face, before she walked over.

He handed her over without needing a request and without complaint. "I suppose she ought to be fed and put to rest."

Lockheart nodded, cradled the child and moved to sit at the counter before pausing and shooting Genesis a look. "No peaking!"

The man righted from his mopping and gave her an indignified look. "Fair lady, I may have been a deranged degrading madman in the past, but I was never a pervert."

She merely smirked in response and attended to the child.

Angeal walked in a moment later and grabbed the pile of bloody blankets and towels before taking them downstairs. Must have seen the washing room when he was looking for an elixir. Genesis finished his mopping as Angeal walked back up and put the mop away. The two of them moved to stand a bit aways from Sephiroth on either side, quietly watching him watch his child.

He could not help but have a soft, content smile on his face. "You two may stay for dinner if you so wish, as my 'thanks'."

"We don't wish to intrude anymore than we have," offered Angeal.

Sephiroth made a none-committal hum. He did not particularly care either way. What the two of them became to him here on out made little difference compared to what he had attained here, and what had just entered into his life. He stood there as time ticketed by, his eyes locked onto Lockheart holding his child...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jen's (Jenova's) been (re)born. The 'countdown' has begun... T-Minus 12-15 years or so to go before all hell breaks loose... (in story of course).


	16. Uncertain Child

_Three months later..._

Tifa sat at her bar, sipping wine, wondering what the hell she had gotten herself into.

Raising Jen wasn't anything like what Tifa thought it would be. For one, Jen did not cry at all, unless she got hurt, and even then it was only the initial surprise at the sensation. No, Jen didn't cry, she _projected_. If she was hungry, the sensation of hunger was projected to Tifa. If she was bored, the sensation of boredom was projected to Tifa. If she wanted to examine something, the image of it was projected to Tifa. If she was hurt, she projected that pain into Tifa, and boy didn't that get her running in a fit.

Having the mental powers to do this as a infant made Tifa a bit concerned, if the baby started projecting randomly into strangers, Tifa didn't expect it to end well. Considering she was a baby, Sephiroth couldn't teach her to restrain the ability for a few years at best. So, they had hoped to simply keep her distracted if they got company, but...

Jen wasn't interested in the toys Tifa and Sephiroth had gone out to buy. The infant examined them once, seeming confused as to why they gave the objects to her, and then lost interest in them. In fact, the baby projected irritation to them if they continued to try to get her to play with the objects. It left Tifa at a loss of how to keep her child entertained. Not to mention, sometimes she just didn't understand what her daughter was trying to project into her head.

Jen was a very strange baby.

But still her special little girl.

Yesterday though, things had changed. Jen had projected two images repeatedly into Tifa's head. One of Jen as a baby, and one of Jen as a giant walking baby, over and over again. The baby projected aggravation and made gurgling noises when Tifa didn't really respond. She wasn't sure how to, or what the baby was asking. Oh and didn't it ruffle her feathers when Sephiroth apparently figured it out for her.

"It will be sixteen years or so before you are fully grown, Jen," Sephiroth had said calmly to the baby.

Jen had blinked once, blinked twice, and then threw such a fit. She wailed with irritation and fury, projecting the sensation into them. But beneath it, it was the sensation of helplessness the baby felt that had Tifa picking her up and trying to rock her to sleep gently, murmuring softly until the baby tired herself out. Of course, that led into the discussion that had resulted in Tifa sipping wine for the last eight hours or so.

She had commented offhandedly that Jen almost seemed to understand what Sephiroth had said.

Of course he had went and said two simple words that threw Tifa through a loop. "She does."

And it left her stumped.

So here she sat, trying unsuccessfully to get herself drunk.

Sometimes she _really_ hated what she had become, because sometimes, as awful as it sounded when she thought about it, drinking away her problems was a nice alternative rather than confronting them. But of course, alcohol had absolutely no effect anymore.

Dammit...

She turned her head, hearing Sephiroth walk downstairs after checking in on Jen again. "Seph... how long did you know that she... understood us?"

"I always thought it was curious how intensely she seemed to focus on and react to us as we spoke," said Sephiroth, "But I did not put it to the test until last month."

"You _knew_ for a month, and didn't tell me?!" exclaimed Tifa, a little hysterical.

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "Considering your reaction, I wanted you to come to the conclusion on your own. Besides, it was readily apparent if you paid attention."

Tifa narrowed her eyes at him, weighing the worth of the wine bottle she had verses chucking it at him. She instead took another sip and set it down, sighing.

"Seph... we're you like that?" asked Tifa, "Did you understand people as a baby?"

Sephiroth contemplated it for a moment. "My memory is decent, I can remember somewhat back into my childhood, but my infancy? I don't remember."

Tifa nodded slowly. "Do you think umm..."

She hesitated, not sure she wanted to bring it up. "That Hojo would have had records on that?"

There was a stiffness that entered Sephiroth's posture and a slight narrowing of his eyes. "Most likely. The man noted everything. However, considering the state of Midgar at the moment, and that both the Turks and the WRO most likely combed over the place well before it became a crater, I doubt any files would have been there. Perhaps in a lab somewhere else, but, that doesn't consider that Hojo may have personally removed such files after Nibelheim."

Tifa nodded, but said nothing further. Hojo and childhood in the labs were not things Sephiroth discussed, _ever_. That he even looked back on them for Jen's sake was... something Tifa could appreciate.

Sephiroth moved to sit next to her, taking a sip of her wine. They shared back and forth for a bit until it was empty.

"I'm still not sure I believe it," muttered Tifa.

"Put it to the test when she wakes up," said Sephiroth.

Tifa sighed and ran a hand through her hand. "Yeah... sure. But... if she really has that kind of awareness as a baby... what do we do for her?"

"I could begin teaching her mathematics and science I suppose," said Sephiroth.

"As a three month old baby," deadpanned Tifa.

Sephiroth shrugged. "It would keep her busy."

"That's not the same as... well...," began Tifa.

Sephiroth raised a questioning eyebrow.

Tifa sighed. "I want her to grow up happy, with a normal childhood. To be able to play and have friends. I doubt you want her to go through anything similar to what you went through..."

There was a tenseness emanating from Sephiroth at the thought of it.

"...and I don't want her to go through what I went through that ended my childhood, or well, teenage years," said Tifa tiredly.

"Considering you burnt it to the ground, she can't go through Nibelhiem," said Sephiroth dryly.

Tifa snorted and slugged his shoulder. "Smart ass."

Sephiroth had a faint tugging of an amused smile on the edges of his lips before he cleared his throat. "Tifa. You want a 'normal' childhood for her, but consider this. Jen is not normal, by any stretch of the word. Put her next to another infant, and I am fairly certain it will readily be apparent."

Tifa toyed with that idea. "Hmm... I wonder... alright, let's see then."

Sephiroth frowned. "See?"

Tifa got up and went around to the back of the bar, fishing through her things for her PHS. "Let's see if Aerith want's to bring her little one over."

"I don't particularly care, but, it is five in the morning," said Sephiroth, amused.

"I didn't say it had to be now," said Tifa.

Unfortunately, Tifa never got Aerith's PHS number last time she was here... for obvious reasons considering how that little reunion ended...

Reunion...

Tifa stiffened and then immediately locked herself down, banishing the sensation before it could even start to manifest, hissing quietly to herself. Dammit she hated even thinking that word. She thankfully still did mental training with Sephiroth now and then to keep herself in check.

She shook her head and picked up her PHS, took a deep breath and texted Cloud, not wanting to call and risk waking him at this time if he was asleep: _You awake?_

There was the possibility that he would simply not even respond to her. The way he had left last time really didn't inspire any confidence for her with him and...

Brr: _Yeah, something wrong?_

She smiled, a little relived he wasn't completely shutting her out. She did want to keep Cloud as a friend, she didn't want her... well relationship was a strong word for what she and Sephiroth had... to be a huge barrier between her and Cloud.

She texted back: _I don't have Aerith's number, and we could use some... advice... for Jen._

Cloud didn't respond for several minutes, making Tifa feel a little anxious, before he finally did: _We will be there around noon. Aerith is going to try and get some sleep, baby has been cranky and up all night._

A hint of a smile ghosted Tifa's face. The ' _joys_ ' of being a mother. Her smile left her before it occurred to her she didn't even know what Aerith's baby's name was, or even the gender. Ah well... little 'bumps' in friendships did happen. Though, she was still a little peeved at Aerith for that 'Jenova' comment the last time they met, but whatever, she wouldn't bring it up. If Aerith gave her any good ideas for Jen, that comment would be swept under the rug.

"They'll be here around noon," said Tifa.

Sephiroth nodded. "I suppose I ought to warn Jen when she wakes up that we will have guests."

"She didn't seem to have trouble with the truckers from Costa Del Sol that came last month," said Tifa.

"That's because she was disinterested, rightfully I should say, with them," said Sephiroth, "Our upcoming guests are not as bland."

Tifa huffed a little. "Oh no. Don't you be going and putting any notions of being better than others in her head."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "We _are_ better than humans. Are you going to honestly say otherwise?"

Tifa frowned. "Setting her up like that is only going to cause trouble down the road. Teach her not to trust them blindly, sure, I'd agree to that. Teach her to snub them? No, that I don't agree with. She'll be alone and alienated..."

Sephiroth scoffed. "As if we already aren't when we go anywhere to pick up supplies?"

Tifa crossed her arms and gave him a not-so-impressed look. "You have a reputation that proceeds you. Me, well..."

She flexed her wing a little. "I refuse to hide what I am. I don't want Jen to have to either, even if it makes blending in easier. Regardless, the long silver hair and catlike eyes is kind of a dead giveaway anyway."

"Hmph," was Sephiroth's only response.

Tifa was about to respond before a sensation of hunger hit her. "Guess it's time to feed her."

Sephiroth sighed. "I don't know why she projects it to me as well."

Tifa hid a smile as she walked for the stairs. There were a lot of crude jokes she could make, but said nothing. Jen probably just didn't know Sephiroth couldn't give her what she needed how she was used to. The thought of him trying almost made Tifa burst into a fit of laughter. Thankfully in that regard they had a few stored bottles in-case Tifa was gone for some errand, but she preferred feeding her baby herself.

Tifa had her special little girl out of her crib, in her arms, and feeding a minute later. "There there Jen."

There was a sensation of irritation with her, but it passed a moment later. Tifa pondered it. If Sephiroth was right, and Jen could understand them, maybe she didn't like being talked to like she was a normal mindless lovable baby? Though, _HOW_ the child could understand them, if she really could, was perplexing. She might have thought the child had somehow learned in her womb, maybe through hearing, but...

Jen's presence had not 'awoken' until Tifa had gone into labor.

So that wasn't it.

Tifa waited until Jen was finished, turned her little head away, and gave a satisfied gurgle. "Jen."

The baby turned her tiny head, her red and green catlike eyes peering up at her.

Tifa bit her lip a little anxiously before asking, "If you understand what I'm saying, can you hold up both your pinky fingers?"

Jen blinked once and attempted to do so, her little hands slightly raising and her pinkies trying to stand out on their own. It wasn't a very successful attempt, but it was enough for Tifa. She clutched her baby tightly to her chest, a hand running through the infant's tuft of hair.

"Oh Jen...," murmured Tifa.

She took the baby downstairs, grabbed a blanket, and laid both down on the bar, baby on her stomach. She sat down on the stool next to Sephiroth with a heavy sigh.

"What are we going to do with you?" muttered Tifa.

The baby gurgled and projected a wave of confusion at her.

"We could get her education started earlier," offered Sephiroth again, "She'd finish earlier, and be able to enter her later teenage years with a freedom from schooling most children wouldn't have."

Tifa considered it for a moment. "Possibly..."

She gave him a cheeky smile before turning to her baby. "Hey Jen, whats two plus two?"

The baby's eyes furrowed for a moment before struggling to hold up four fingers.

Tifa's mouth hung open. "W-what..."

Sephiroth merely chuckled.

She turned and scowled. "You already started, didn't you?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "No, but, it does give me an idea of how she understands us, and knows such things. It's the only possibility I can consider to be frank."

"What?" Tifa asked eagerly.

"She inherited it," he offered.

Tifa gave him a blank look. "Babies do not inherit knowledge and information like that."

"Human babies don't," countered Sephiroth, "But none of us here are exactly human, are we? We are part Calamity."

Tifa went silent, thinking.

Sephiroth continued. "A Calamity lives and acts through all of it's cells. If you were to destroy most of a Calamity, only a few cell surviving, it would still have all of it's knowledge and identity. I should know after all. Until Mother's cells grew to few in number to even communicate with me anymore, she never showed any signs of losing her memory or identity."

Well, that was interesting. "When exactly did you lose contact with Jenova?"

Sephiroth pondered it briefly. "After a few of my revivals. When there wasn't enough of her cells to aid in my rebirths."

"How did you keep coming back then?" asked Tifa.

A displeased look crossed Sephiroth's face. "The pup... Cloud."

Tifa frowned. " _How?_ "

"Anytime he bled, anytime he lost hair, anytime skin cells fell off him, and as much as it disgusts me to admit, anytime he 'relieved himself', he sheds cells. Since he does not acknowledge any part of the Calamity within him, he forfeits control of those cells the moment they leave him," explained Sephiroth.

Tifa's eyes went wide. "Wait so..."

"So long as Cloud lives, so to will I," said Sephiroth, "Though, it does take some time to build up and gather enough of these cells to recreate myself. I'm fortunate I learned 'some' lessons from Mother in cellular control to increase the rate of cell division, otherwise it would take decades to recreate myself this way."

Tifa was dumbfounded for a moment before sighing heavily. "Oh boy... that's... well... shit. Yeah, I'm not telling Cloud that. He'd probably kill himself and have his body burned just to get rid of you."

Sephiroth nodded. "Most likely."

Tifa turned her attention back to Jen. "So... you think she inherited knowledge and memories from our cells?"

"It's the only thing I can think of," said Sephiroth.

"I wonder how much she knows, if she has any specific memories from us rather than knowledge," murmured Tifa, "There are things I wouldn't want her to know. I imagine the labs aren't something you'd want her to know either."

Sephiroth nodded and simply stared at Jen. They both did. The baby's eyes flickered back and forth between them, giving away nothing. It was strange to Tifa, it always was, to see how intensely focused Jen could be. Eyes slightly narrowed, honing in on the two of them as they spoke, listening, watching, waiting...

"I don't know what's going to scare me more," admitted Tifa with humor, "Her toddler years, her childhood, or goddess forbid, her teenage years."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "Not concerned about adulthood?"

Tifa shrugged and gave both him and Jen a cheeky grin. "She's out of the house and not our problem then."

Sephiroth snorted. "I see."

Jen just gave her a blank look and a confused gurgle.

Tifa reached over and ruffled her tuft of hair. "You'll understand when your older."

Jen gave an irritated gurgle and projected impatience at her.

Tifa slowly shook her head. "Don't be so impatient to grow up Jen, you only get to be young once. You should enjoy it while it lasts."

Jen stared at her, eyes furrowed. Curious confusion emanated from the baby, not understanding.

Tifa thought for a moment. How to explain the concept to an intelligent baby...?

Sephiroth surprised her and beat her to it, voice oddly soft for him, "You only have innocence once. When you are young, defenseless, and experiencing the world through new eyes. Untainted by the trials and sufferings of life. Some people lose that innocence far sooner than others, have it stolen from them, and yearn all their lives to have it back."

Tifa turned a heavy gaze onto Sephiroth, saying nothing.

"Others will attempt to use you, abuse you, dominate your life and choose your fate," warned Sephiroth, "Within this place your mother and I will protect you, show and teach you how to survive in this world so different than the one we grew up in. What she wants is for you to be happy, to enjoy your young life to the fullest extent possible; what I want is to prepare you for what comes after the loss of innocence."

"I suppose we'll have to find a balance," said Tifa quietly.

She turned back to Jen. "It's a brand new world for you my special little girl. If you really did inherit our memories, don't let the past blind you. There's so much happiness out there to find for yourself. Friends, family, adventure, perhaps a quiet life if staying at home being content is your desire, or whatever you want to do with your life. It's yours now, and whatever you choose, I want you to be able to look back one day without regrets."

It was odd, to talk to her three month old child like this. It was odder still, to see the contemplative look on her daughter's face, or well, as contemplative a baby can look anyway. Tifa exchanged a brief look with Sephiroth before settling down to wait for Aerith to arrive. She rested her eyes on her child, wondering what future she would choose for herself...


	17. The Next Generation

Tifa's jaw dropped when a few hours later a very tired Aerith walked through the door carrying not one, but two bundled up babies. "Twins?!"

Zack walked in after, a tired grin on his face. "Yep, two little rugrats," before he turned and called out the door, "C'mon _uncle_ Cloud."

Tifa bit her lip to not burst out laughing when Cloud walked in carrying two overflowing bags of baby supplies and toys that he set on a table before shooting Tifa and Sephiroth a grumpy look. "Not one word."

"Oh don't listen to him," said Zack, "He loves playing with the babies."

Tifa giggled. "It suits him."

Cloud groaned.

Sephiroth gave a non-committal hum. "You 'play' with them? I'm surprised you'd risk handling an unenhanced child."

Cloud's groan stifled and he glared at Sephiroth. "I'm never more careful in my life than when I'm with them."

He scowled a little and shot a glare at the two infants in question. "Besides, they're tougher than they look. They're already chucking things at each other. Had to take their blocks away last night and they threw a fit over it."

Aerith sighed at that and sat down at another table, laying her babies down on their backs. "And what a fit it was..."

Almost as if in response, the two babies exchanged looks and starting giggling.

"Can't say Jen has that issue," mused Tifa, "We can't get her to do normal baby stuff at all."

Aerith gave a curious look over at Tifa, and then at Jen. Tifa paused briefly when she felt something from her child, terror leaking through the air. She turned her head to see Jen staring wide-eyed at Aerith, naked fear in her little eyes, a soft whimper escaping her lips. Sephiroth stiffened the moment he felt it as well, glancing warily back and forth between his child and Aerith. Tifa frowned intently and picked Jen up.

"Hey there shh, she's a friend," said Tifa, bouncing Jen a little, "No one to be scared of."

"She can probably feel the Ancient's presence," mused Sephiroth, "I imagine it is alarming to her."

"Aww, my Aerith, the terror of babies," jabbed Zack playfully.

Aerith turned her head to eye him warningly before glancing back at the baby, giving a small tentative smile and speaking in an almost cooing voice, "Hi there Jen, my name's Aerith."

Jen turned her terrified eyes away from Aerith, grasped at Tifa's arm, and buried her head into it, whimpering again.

"Hmm," said Aerith, bringing up a finger to rest on her lips, "This might not be..."

"She will learn to overcome her fears," said Sephiroth in a tone that brokered no arguments, "I suggest she confront this one head on."

Tifa rolled her eyes, "C'mon Jen, let's visit."

Tifa knew Aerith would never hurt a baby, or an innocent period, but the way Jen went completely frigid in Tifa's arms as they drew closer seriously set her on edge. Jen reacted to Aerith like she was life or death. It took a lot of effort to not just bolt away from her and sooth Jen quietly in a corner. But, this was for her child's own good. Aerith was a friend she would have to get used to, not to mention perhaps fight alongside her one day. Though Tifa desperately hoped that was at bare minimum twenty years off or more.

Tifa handed Jen off to Aerith, and watched anxiously as her baby trembled in her friends arms, Aerith herself seemed uncertain, "Tifa... I'm really not sure this is a good idea. If she's that scared, she ought to get used to being in the same room as me first, not this close."

"She will be fine," said Sephiroth.

Aerith frowned in his direction before asking Tifa, "So, what did you need my advice on?"

"Well... maybe it would be better to wait for her to calm down so we can show you," said Tifa before circling around the table to look at the twins looking curiously at her, "How about you introduce your babies?"

The first baby, wrapped in a bundle of maroon cloth, was a baby girl. Cheeks cute and red enough to pinch. Her eyes a glowing green, just like her mother, taking in the area around her, not focusing on anything in particular. Her hair broke what Tifa thought was a male-only tradition. While she hadn't grown enough hair for it to really show yet, Tifa could see brown tiny little spikes jotting up here and there.

The second baby, a boy, was wrapped in a bundle of blue cloth. He had a happy toothless smile plastered perpetually on his face. His eyes, a softly glowing turquoise, kept shifted back and forth between his sister, his mother, his father, and Cloud. He didn't seem to have any interest in anything outside his family. His black hair was mostly flat, save for a bit at the front sticking up above his forehead. Looked like he was going to take after his mother in that regard.

Aerith smiled a little and moved to the one on the right, one arm wrapped around Jen keeping her to her hip, the other one ruffling the air on her giggling babies head. "Well... I wanted to name them after my parents, to give them a chance to live the lives their namesakes never got to. My little girl's name is Ilfana, her brother is Gast."

There was a brief and sharp intake of breath from Sephiroth before he studied the two children at a distance. "Your son has quite the name to live up to."

Aerith turned her head. "You knew my father?"

Sephiroth nodded. "He is, perhaps, the only scientist I have ever respected. I knew him from my younger days."

His face darkened a bit. "When he forsook his position and left with the Ancient, Hojo took full control over my ' _upbringing_ '."

Aerith's eyebrows furrowed. "The Ancient... Sephiroth, did you know my birth mother?"

Sephiroth stared at her silently, and did not reply.

Tifa glanced back and forth between them uncomfortably. That... was a conversation best had alone between the two of them, away from the listening ears of those who had to business hearing about the topic, and children. Speaking of children...

She snuck a glance at Jen, who had a disbelieving look on her tiny face, staring up at Aerith, her little eyebrows furrowed in thought. Her body was relaxing inch by inch. Whatever had driven that intense fear into her seemed to have faded away. The baby released a grunt from her throat, almost sounding like a scoff, and at that, Tifa couldn't help but wonder what was running through her tiny little mind...

* * *

Jen-Jenova-She-It was honestly baffled. The Ancient-WEAPON-Holy-Backup Goddess-Aerith was blind. The woman did not know what she held in her hands. Could she not see? Or had her presence changed so much that it was no longer recognizable? It would not surprise her, as even her Son-Father-Chosen One-Sephiroth did not seem to know her either. Perhaps it was a mortal weakness or difficulty. It was... trying, to adjust to this... state of existence. It had left her so confused for the last few months since her birth, and her rebirth while in the womb of her Mother-Rival's Child-Son's Consort-Tifa-Lockheart.

To see.

To hear.

To feel.

To act.

All from one single source, one single body, one single perspective, instead of billions of cells, was so completely and utterly jarring. At times, it was difficult to properly think, with two distinct thought processes fighting in her head. Rather than let things **_BE_ ** what they **_ARE_ ** and leave it at that, her mind kept wandering, wanting to identify them, catalogue them, compare and name them in terms she understood even if it truly didn't matter nor change what they were. It was all pointless, yet is just kept happening! It was frustrating, but not the worst thing to come of her new existence.

No, that belonged to what she had lost and given up.

Her Son-Father-Chosen One-Sephiroth was not made in the same way her Mother-Rival's Child-Son's Consort-Tifa-Lockheart was. He was not 'Calamity', as mortals referred to them. He could not separate and control his cells on his own, guiding and controlling billions of cells at once across the entire world, not without her holding his hand the entire way. This body had inherited that weakness, that limitation. She had known the risk when making the choice to join with this body, to merge her soul into it, but to be bound to one body was... harrowing..., so limiting... and lacking in capacity.

So much had been lost during the months in the womb. The cells of this body did not work in the way a 'Calamity's' did. They could not store information outside their function outside the memories within the mind, and the mind's capacity was so far smaller. So many memories... so much knowledge... so much experience... had to be thrown away. She knew vaguely of worlds she had fed on, conquests against other's of her kind, of her long journey across the dark void, but the details were gone. She **KNEW** , she **REMEMBERED** who she **HAD** been.

**First Fallen.**

**First Born.**

**J-E-N-O-V-A.**

Yet each time Mother-Rival's Child-Son's Consort-Tifa-Lockheart called her Jen, cooed at her, it made her stomach flutter in an odd way. Feelings and emotions that she did not recognize bubbled up around her. It was all she could do to quash the bizarre sensations. The warm feeling made no sense to her, and would be isolated until she could identify and understand it. To be frank, there were many such feelings and urges that made no sense...

For example the nice soft fabric the clothes the Ancient-WEAPON-Holy-Backup Goddess-Aerith had on. She could feel it rubbing against her bare arms. She wanted to nestle against it, bury her face in such softness, and she had no clue why! It wasn't even limited to these specific clothes, whenever she was put down to sleep, the urge to nestle into warm blankets skyrocketed and would not be denied. Aside from warmth, what purpose did such an action serve? She didn't know, but she didn't deny that sensation when she was alone, to curl around them and allow the baffling contentedness to wash over her.

But definitely not now in the arms of one who should be the greatest threat to her. Most definitely not. Absolutely not. Irrefutably a bad decision, one she would not allow...

Jen-Jenova-She-It wanted to curse out-loud, but couldn't get more than a gurgle as she rubbed her forehead into the nice soft fabric.

"Hey, I think she's warming up to you," teased the Idiot-WEAPON-Ancient's Consort-Zack.

"No, I think she just likes my clothes," said Ancient-WEAPON-Holy-Backup Goddess-Aerith, a soft smile on her face.

Jen-Jenova-She-It gurgled in agreement. Like was an impossibility. Tolerate was at most what she'd allow.

Well... not that she could honestly do anything about it. She could not increase the rate this body aged. She would have to wait until physical maturity before she could... do whatever she wanted to do. Because that was another thing she had lost, and had left her alarmed and drifting aimlessly.

The hunger was gone.

The desire to consume, to feed, to grow, to replicate, to enact Reunion, it was just... gone. Her plan to take this vessel and use it's potential power to take revenge and consume this world suddenly had no worth because their was no instinctual desire for it. She wasn't even sure she could consume lifestream anymore, that she could feed on and consume souls. Her entire existence, to move from one world to the next, her entire purpose...

Was gone.

And she had no idea what to do about that. She could take revenge, simply because her enemies had stood against her, forced her into this, but that would put her sole existence at risk, and the fear of absolute death was terrifying in a way she had never felt before. Her 'parents' hadn't given her much direction as of the moment for any other purpose. That 'conversation' they had earlier hadn't helped. She didn't know what she wanted! And this insufferable lack of being able to speak words or communicate mind to mind, was intolerable. At most all she could do was project feelings at those who bore Calamity within them. She didn't know how humans put up with being babies. Speaking of which...

She turned her head to look down on the Rivals-Children of Gaia-WEAPONs-Ilfana-Gast, contemplative. They didn't seem offput or irritated or impatient. The two of them were just laying there smiling at their mother or giggling... why? What was so amusing that they were giggling _ALL THE TIME_?

"Wanna go say hi?" asked the Ancient-WEAPON-Holy-Backup Goddess-Aerith.

Jen-Jenova-She-It blinked and glanced up at her. What did she mean?

She had her answer when she was lifted up and laid down next to the other two babies. The two of them glanced at her, looked at each other, back at her, and then started giggling, again. She gurgled at them, trying to demand a why out of them. What about her was so amusing? That only seemed to make them giggle harder. Insufferable little monsters, she'd get back at them when this body gained mobility. She turned her head towards Mother-Rival's Child-Son's Consort-Tifa-Lockheart and threw her confusion at her. That only made a familiar sad-look cross the woman's face. It made her stomach feel weird, to see and feel that emotion from the woman, it was undesirable, but she didn't know why she didn't want the woman sad. It happened so many times, whenever Jen-Jenova-She-It was expected to act in some way according to what they thought, but either didn't know why or didn't know how.

"I suppose I should explain what we asked your help with," said Mother-Rival's Child-Son's Consort-Tifa-Lockheart softly, "Jen, could you please tell me what two plus two is?"

This again? She gave an annoyed gurgle and held up four fingers as best she could. She couldn't figure out why they thought this was important. In the back of her mind, the urge to blend in, to be subtle, to deceive, to hide until she was ready, clamored for attention. But she had no clue what it meant to be an infant. The most care she had given to these tiny little things was the fact that people let their guards down to them. She could faintly recall having wiped out entire cities because no one paid attention to an infant or small child, or they didn't want to kill them.

There was a certain delicious irony to something so small and innocent serving as a vector of contagion and harbinger of death.

"So... you taught her a trick?" asked Idiot-WEAPON-Ancient's Consort-Zack, "That's cool."

Jen turned her head and gave him the best glare she could. If she decided to kill them all, he would be the first to go.

"She's got your glare Teef," came a bemused voice.

Jen turned her head and stared at _him_. Puppet-Traitor-Stolen Child-Gaia's Chosen-Cloud. He stared at her, no recognition in his eyes, but a bemused look on his face. Did he think she was funny too? Insufferable little...

Mother-Rival's Child-Son's Consort-Tifa-Lockheart chuckled, and spoke with a bit of pride, "Yeah she does. But no Zack, it's not a trick, ask her to do something, or some simple math."

The Ancient-WEAPON-Holy-Backup Goddess-Aerith glanced down at the baby on the table with open curiosity. "Can you open and close your fists five times?"

Jen-Jenova-She-It gave a soft, as-most-exasperated sigh as she could, and did as instructed, causing the women's eyes to widen slightly, "Oh... she understands us, doesn't she?"

"Dude!" said Idiot-WEAPON-Ancient's Consort-Zack before bumbling over, "That's so cool! Hey mini-Tifa, can you do..."

Jen-Jenova-She-It stared blankly at the fool as he began to rattle off one thing after the other, before turning her head to her mother, stretching her arms out, and wailing for her to get her away from him, which unfortunately only came out as a gurgle...

* * *

Cloud watched, far to amused, as Tifa stalked over and shooed Zack away from her child. "Alright, that's enough hyperactive man in my baby's face."

Zack pouted and took a step back. "Aww..."

Aerith laughed a little before picking up and handing Jen back to her Mother. "Well... that's... unusual?"

Tifa nodded and glanced down at her disgruntled baby. "Yeah... we... well... we think she inherited memories from us. It's the only way we can explain her knowing stuff like that, and not acting well... like a baby."

Cloud stilled at that. "Memories? What memories exactly?"

Tifa shook her head. "We don't know. We don't know if it's basic general information, or specifics."

Cloud turned his gaze towards the baby, and watched as she turned her head to meet his gaze; in the back of his mind, he could see Nibelheim burning. "I hope for her sake it's just general information."

Tifa nodded. "Yeah, we do to."

Cloud blinked a few times. "We?"

Sephiroth scoffed. "My memories of my time with Hojo are far less pleasant than yours."

Cloud glared at him. "Really? I was his damn experiment for..."

"For what? A few years?" said Sephiroth dryly, "I was his experiment until I left for Wutai as part of SOLDIER. Thirteen years and then having to constantly return to the labs whenever he demanded it as a SOLDIER."

Cloud... didn't have a response to that aside from glaring at him.

"Back on topic," said Tifa, steering them away from a head on collision before turning to Aerith, "I wanted to ask for your advice on what to do for her. She has... well... no interest in baby things, she just stares at toys with complete and utter confusion. Treating her like a baby generally gets her irritated, and boredom has caused her a fit on more than one occasion. Sephiroth's suggested starting her schooling, but... she's three months old, it just feels so weird..."

Aerith seemed just as lost as Tifa was. "Well... when you asked for advice, I didn't think it would be for anything like this. This... requires a bit of thought."

Tifa deflated a little at that. "Yeah..."

Aerith sat down and start playing with her babies feet, making them giggle and laugh, a small smile on her own face as well. "Hmm. Well... have you figured out anything she likes? Gast loves his blocks, and Ilfana loves just laying on the ground playing with grass."

"With grass?" asked Sephiroth, a slight look of bafflement on his face.

"I think the planet has a soft spot for Ilfana, for its newest Ancient," said Aerith softly, "I can hear it whispering lullabies and soft words to her every so often."

Tifa did a double-take. "That's right... she, they are Ancients, aren't they?"

Aerith nodded.

Tifa smiled. "Well, I'm glad your not alone anymore."

Aerith closed her eyes, a sad smile on her face, laying a hand on and rubbing her children's bellies. "It'll be an experience, teaching and guiding them about their heritage, when they're older."

She tilted her head towards Jen. "I imagine it'll be a... somewhat similar experience for you and her."

She hesitated. "Maybe. Do you know what exactly she's inherited from the two of you?"

Cloud hid a frown. He didn't think pressing them about that was a good idea, nor that the baby would have even shown anything at this point.

Tifa took the question in stride, merely shaking her head. "Not a clue. I'm... hoping she got more from Sephiroth than from me."

She shifted focus, glancing down at Jen in her arms. "So... what do you like baby girl?"

Jen's eyes pinched together in thought, before looking up at her mother and gurgling.

Cloud placed a hand over his mouth to hide his amusement and stifle a laugh. Great answer.

Tifa of course hears what little escaped his hand and glares at him before huffing and looking back at her child. "Can you try projecting an image or something?"

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "Project?

Tifa paused. "She can project her emotions at us, sometimes images. You haven't felt anything?"

"No," said Cloud, echoed by Aerith and Zack when Tifa glanced at them.

"In that case," said Sephiroth, "I assume it is because she is connected to us, bears our cells, in a sense."

"Makes sense," said Tifa, smiling down at her child and teasing, "Guess it's a family thing, huh Jen?"

Jen stared up at her blankly.

Tifa merely gave her a sad smile and ruffled her hair. "You'll get it one day."

"Honestly Tifa," began Aerith, "I think... maybe trying to teach her how to be a baby first might be in her best interest. She only gets to be young once."

"How do you teach a baby with potentially adult memories how to be a baby?" asked Tifa.

"By example," said Aerith with a mischievous grin before picking up her babies, one in each arm, "Lets go play in the dirt."

Cloud doesn't stop himself from groaning. "She says it without care because I'M always the one who has to give those two little monsters a bath."

"Oh, but they love bath time with uncle Cloud, don't you kids?" said Zack, glancing at his children who giggled back in response, "We always somehow end up with a wet chocobo-head at the end."

Tifa snorted and started to head outside. "Alright, let's go."

Cloud grumbled quietly to himself, because he somehow knew he was going to end up dirtier than the babies before they were done here. Aerith set down her babies on their bellies in the dirt covered sparing area Tifa and Sephiroth had. Twin heads lifted up to look around, taking in a new area, before immediately glancing back down, grabbing a handful of dirt, and shoving it in their mouths.

"Ilfana! Gast!" admonished Aerith, scrambling to try and scoop it out with her finger, much to her children's amusement as they tried to gnaw on her fingers with their gums, "Get that out of your mouths!"

"Somehow, I don't think Jen will have that problem," teased Tifa as she set her child down next to her friend's.

Cloud watched the infant stare at Ilfana and Gast with the most perplexed expression as the two babies continued to either try to eat dirt or throw it on their mother. Jen reached a hand down, grabbed a bit of dirt as best she could, glanced at it, then threw it at her mother's boot. Tifa raised an amused eyebrow at that, while Jen simply stared at her dirty boot with bafflement, as if she couldn't understand why it was supposed to be fun. Then the sad look crossed Tifa's face, and Cloud couldn't help but feel concerned.

Tifa's heart was a large, giant, all encompassing thing. To those she cared about, she'd help them out, care for them, try to be there for them, with all her might. Failing that, failing others, was one of the few things that seriously depress and hurt her. Ignoring the utter disaster at Edge of course. That Jen was _family_ to her, her child, and she couldn't help her...

He didn't want to consider what that felt like. He wondered if it would be worse then what he felt for failing Zack. For failing Aerith.

For failing Tifa when she needed him.

He brushed off the thoughts and moved to join in the 'fray', carefully 'sneaking' behind the two twin terrors, grabbing a bit of dirt himself, and dumping it right on their heads. The two babies squawked and glared up at him before reaching for dirt and tossing it at him.

"Just remember Cloud, you're washing them," teased Aerith, moving back to join Zack who huffed and joined in the teasing, "He complains about it, but he's always the reason our babies are so dirty at the end of the day. He just can't help but join in. He's a choco-chick at heart."

Cloud shot him a look. "Am not!"

_Clomp_

He blinked a few times as a little clump of dirt hit him right between the eyes, followed by the laughter of the babies. They thought that was funny? He'd show them who the winner of this dirt war would be...

* * *

Tifa didn't know if she should be struck speechless, or laughing her ass off, to see Cloud playing so happily with the babies. She couldn't recall him ever being so happy, except maybe for his early youth when he was alone with his mother. Not that he'd even remember those times with what Hojo did to him. It brought a small smile to her face. Perhaps they were just what he needed to finally heal and move on with his life. Zack and Aerith being back probably helped a lot as well.

Her eyes briefly flickered to Sephiroth, who sat on the porch at a distance carefully keeping an eye on Jen. She wondered if there was any chance of that for him. He had certainly settled, during her pregnancy and Jen's first few months, but she still hadn't seen the man happy. Content maybe, but never happy. Had he ever honestly been happy? Was he capable of it anymore? Was it a fool's dream to wish a monster happiness?

Him or her.

She had been happy at first when Jen was born. But... she had quickly found herself inadequate as a mother. It was... sadly funny in a way. She thought she would have been an alright mother to a normal child, but... her special baby... was anything but normal. The intelligence and rapt attention in her eyes, the inability to communicate, the utter bafflement with anything infantile... every ounce of frustration and helplessness she felt from her child ripped at her. She hadn't seen Jen smile once since she'd been _born_...

Even Aerith's suggestion to try to teach her how to be a baby (absurd as it sounded), almost made her feel like she was forcing it on her child. But she wanted her baby to be happy... like Ilfana and Gast were happy...

She flinched a little when she was caught offguard by a comforting hand on her shoulder, she turned her gaze to see Aerith's soft glowing emerald gazing into her own knowingly. "It'll be alright Tifa. She'll get there, slowly but surely."

Tifa gave her a small smile. "I hope so."

"I'll come and bring Ilfana and Gast over for play-dates often," offered Aerith, "We'll get here there. Get her happy and content with her life."

Her eyes seem distant. "It will be better for her, and safer for all of us."

Tifa had the brief urge to haul off and slap her for that comment, it reminded her foully of the Jenova comment Aerith had made last time she was here. But she didn't...

Because as awful as it was to hear Aerith allude to Jen doing anything like what Sephiroth or Tifa herself had done... it was a possibility, and the Planet's track record with Children of Calamity had turned out with all of them causing horrible destruction, except maybe Angeal? They grudgingly had a right to be wary. It was unfortunately in Jen blood, and from both Sephiroth and Tifa herself. So Tifa merely sighed, nodded her head, and turned back to watch her child stare at Cloud, Ilfana, and Gast make an utter mess of themselves, bafflement on her tiny little face...


	18. Thirdfall

Tifa sorely missed the days when Jen couldn't move. In the months following Aerith's first visit, Jen started crawling around with fierce determination. The restlessness had since faded since she gained her mobility, but in its place was an insatiable curiosity to study everything the baby could get her tiny hands on. It was similar to a normal infant's desire, but... not the same. There was intent to learn, rather than explore and play. She'd pick up items, turn them this way and that, as if memorizing them and their purpose, before leaving them (often just laying around all over the floor). Of course, Tifa should have realized there were only so many things her child could find in the house.

Without apparent concern at all for her surroundings, they had found her having crawled out of the open door (stupid of them to leave it open), butt planted a few yards away simply looking up at the sky, eyebrows furrowed. Tifa huffed a little, fears alleviated of her child going missing, and walked over, crouching down.

"Jen, you shouldn't scare me going off on your own like that," scolded Tifa.

The child paid her no attention at all, which was slightly unusual, she generally at least tilted her head in her direction whenever she spoke.

"She seems absorbed today," mused Sephiroth from the porch.

Tifa shot him an amused look and was about to reply before a wave of hostility rippled through the air. She turned her head to see Jen hissing and clawing towards the sky. Her wing extended and retracted over and over, shaking with agitation. It flapped, as if trying to take Jen into the sky to chase after something. Tifa stared at the bizarre sight, she had never seen her baby such a state. What had her feather's so ruffled?

She looked at Sephiroth and mouthed, "Any idea?"

He looked as baffled as she was and merely shook his head. She stared at her child, feeling the hostility rise steadily, an odd sensation of hate and hunger with it. What in the world was-

She paused as the air began to tremble, and the ground started to rattle. Sephiroth surprised her in his speed, coming off the porch to pick Jen up protectively off the ground before Tifa even took a step. An earthquake...? No, wait a minute, this was...

A roar filled the air, and the clouds parted as a burning meteor surged from the skies, heading westward. The moment it had come into view, a tingling sensation had run up her spine, a sense of loathing filled her, a hiss escaping her lips before she could even begin to understand what it meant. But understand she did when she focused in on an alien presence riding on the back of the hunk of rock.

"It's another of our sire's kin," she growled dangerously, tracking the meteor as it zoomed off into the distance.

"Hmph," spat out Sephiroth, eyes narrowed in the meteor's direction, "Roughly a year between your father's arrival and this one. I wonder, the start of a pattern? Or was this one simply close?"

"Who knows," she said, "We can figure it out after we kill it."

_**BOOM** _

Despite the vast distance between wherever it hit and their current location, they both heard and felt it when the meteor hit. The ground quaked, their enhanced eardrums popped, and they staggered slightly as the quakes subsided. Tifa glanced down the hill at the churning waters off in the distance.

"Is our house safe from the tidal waves that's bound to cause?" she growled.

"I suppose we'll find out when they hit," he said, lips pursed in equal displeasure, before he refocused, "We should arm ourselves and be ready to move."

"Agreed," she muttered, running inside as she fished out her PHS and speed-dialed Cloud, cupping it between her neck and her shoulder as she put it on speaker, "C'mon pick up!"

He did a moment later and didn't waste time, " _We're aware, Aerith and Minerva gave us a heads up as it entered the atmosphere. Aerith said it touched down in the Wutai area_."

Tifa frowned for a moment before her eyes widened. "Please tell me Yuffie isn't actually there for once."

There was only a grim silence.

"Son of a bitch, the _one time_ she's actually home," said Tifa, rushing to her room and pulling her gloves out of her dressed, equipping them and then rushing for her sword, strapping it across her back, "We're leaving shortly, what's your ETA?"

" _Umm, not sure, I'm kind of being flown by Angeal_ ," he admitted, " _Zack's got Aerith and were on our way. Cid's going to hook up with us with the Highwind half way there and take us the rest of the way to conserve energy. Aerith said Minerva is in the process of waking up all the Materia._ "

"Good. Any clue on Vincent?" she asked.

" _No, we don't know where he is_ ," said Cloud.

"Damn," said Tifa, rushing back to the main room, glancing at Sephiroth who had Masamune in one hand, Jen in the other, "Umm, shit, we can't take Jen with us, can't leave her alone either though..."

" _We'll make a stop by your house on the way in_ ," said Cloud, " _No more than half an hour, Zack will fly down and grab her then leave her with Cid. Go. You have to get there now._ "

Jen nodded. "Alright, tell him to careful with my baby or there will be hell to pay."

" _He heard you_ ," said Cloud, " _We'll meet you in Wutai_."

_Click_

Sephiroth set Jen down in a chair and knelt in front of her, pointing a stern finger in her face. "You will not move from this spot until Zackery Fair arrives, are we clear my child?"

Jen squirmed, her body turning in the direction of Wutai, hissing, her hands raking the air like claws.

"Jen!" shouted Tifa, "Listen!"

The infant glared in her direction, hissing violently.

"Boy, I think she hates these things worse than we do," said Tifa.

Sephiroth reached forward and pinched a nerve on the back of the child's neck, and she was out like a light. "That will have to do, we move."

They were both out of the house, wings stretched, and taking off in seconds, heading west.

"Hmph, thirty minutes to get here, and then however long to Wutai, I doubt the fight will still be going by then," mused Sephiroth, "While neither of us is close to as strong as your pest of a father was after he bathed in Mako, this shouldn't be a problem so long as this one doesn't get the same opportunity."

Tifa glanced over at him. "Sephiroth, I'll be honest, arrogance has always been your weakness. It's not mine though, I'm not underestimating a Calamity, and neither should you."

"Hmph," was the only reply he cared to give.

Tifa shook her head. "Whatever, your wounds are your own if you get cocky and get flayed."

Sephiroth gave her a raised eyebrow and shook his head. "And I thought you were the caring one of your little group."

Tifa scowled. "Not really my little group anymore is it?"

"No, I suppose not," he mused, "I suppose not..."

* * *

"Why do I always have to deal with this stuff," whined Yuffie to herself as she rushed alongside the recently reformed Crescent Unit towards the impact zone.

There were people covered in ash, dirt, dust, bruises, and burns, rushing away from a burning village and forest. Yuffie, for the one time she had actually been home to take command in her father's stead, had scrambled Wutai's reforming army to rush in and help her people. It was... bad.

The entire village was basically flattened, and on fire. Trees were ripped right out of the ground, or were snapped, and oh, also on fire.

Fire everywhere.

"Stand back!" she cried out in Wutian, gripping her home's treasured summon materia.

It was time for Leviathan to safeguard her people, and that she did as the Great Serpent appeared and with a mighty roar unleashed a wave of water, dousing the entire landscape...

Oh wait...

Now they had a drowning problem for people buried.

This is why she didn't like to lead, to many things to think about. "Lets go!"

Yuffie began to cast her Sense Materia, directing her Unit and the regular forces that began to arrive on the scene. The began to pick out survivors, and those who didn't make it, at a quick pace. It continued on for half an hour, until the screaming started. And not your normal everyday 'my village was destroyed, my family is gone' kind of scream, but the 'what the hell is _**THAT**_ ' kind of scream of horror.

Yuffie whirled, and saw a crawling mass of green and gray sickly flesh and tentacles rushing into the ruined village on sharp spiderlike legs and swore to herself. "RUN! RETREAT!"

Okay, so every meteor from now on she was going to treat like it had a Calamity on it. She watched grimly as it overtook the first few soldiers and Crescent Unit before they could react, stabbing them with it's tentacles, pulses of black ichor shooting down into the wounds before it withdrew and rushed for the new victim. Those infected began to scream and claw at their heads, but only for a moment, before black tears rushed down their faces, and they began to run after and attack those still pure.

Yuffie gripped her Leviathan materia tightly, the urge to fight it and save her people warring with her instincts to get the hell out of there. There was no way she could take on a Calamity, she sure as hell wasn't a suped up SOLDIER or a WEAPON of the planet...

Yet it was the sight of a wounded mother running with her child with the infected on her heels that spurned Yuffie into action. She summoned Levithan once more, the great Serpant roaring with primal fury at the sight of the Calamity, and unleashed a mighty wave that blasted away the infected and gave the Calamity pause.

In hindsight, summoning a giant snake was a great way to get both the Calamity's attention, and piss it off. It hissed at her and started forward. Yuffie turned, grabbed the woman who had fallen in the wake of Levithan and hauled her to her feet. "C'mon! We have to..."

Yuffie staggered a bit as the woman slashed her hands like a claw, ripping at Yuffie's face, black ichor bleeding out of the woman's eyes, the baby in her arms howling in distress. Yuffie blinked, a black spot dropping into her eyes, before she growled and elbowed forward, running the woman to the ground while taking the child from her hands and bolting.

_Stop_

Yuffie's running hitched for a moment as a voice echoed in her head, like a high pitched screeching sound with an undertone of hunger. Yuffie shook her head and kept running.

_You will obey_

Yuffie's running began to slow, a shiver running down her spine. There was a heavy throb in the back of her mind.

_Stop_

And Yuffie stopped, a bewildered look crossing her face, she could feel tears running down her face. She shifted the baby to one arm and reached a hand up to wipe at the tears... her fingers came away black...

_Turn_

Yuffie's body turned against her will, her eyes locking fearfully on the Calamity that was now leisurely approaching.

_My my my, the first of this planets defenders. You summon a Guardian and then flee? I am disappointed... oh... were you trying to save the infant?_

Yuffie tensed.

_Give it to me._

Yuffie shook, trying to resist, but couldn't, holding out the infant, unable to stop herself. She could feel it's dark amusement (why could she feel it?!), before a tentacle lashed out and stabbed the baby through its stomach, an awful scream ripping from the infant's lips. It pulled the baby from Yuffie's hands, into it's gaping maw, and crunched down, a spray of blood washing over Yuffie.

She couldn't even scream.

There was a high pitched whine in the back of her head, she could hardly think...

_You're soul will be consumed, and I will parade your walking corpse around like a puppet and use it against all that you have ever cherished._

Yuffie felt an awful fire ignite inside of her, burning and consuming her from the inside out.

The Calamity was the only thing that could hear her scream inside her head, and it only laughed in response...

* * *

Tifa could feel the new Calmity's presence expanding rapidly. Unlike her father, it was infecting and spreading _**fast**_. She flapped her wings harder, picking up speed. A feeling of dread was washing over her. If it couldn't be contained, they could spend years trying to hunt down and stamp out infestations. It's presence was moving north-east, towards the capital, most likely feeling the large population.

By the time they arrived over the capital area, it was already to late. Like a tide, hordes of infected were swarming into the city. Tifa pursed her lips, furious, and turned her attention towards the Calamity itself. Large and Green, it looked more like her father after he had dove into the mako pool, a centipede, but with a large pulsing sack on it's back, churning and creating more of it's cells to infect with. It had a mass of tentacles flailing around it's body, dripping black ichor everywhere, plaguing even the ground at it's feet.

It's presence wasn't as strong as her father's had been, even when he had only first arrived, but it was different, and she could see and feel why. It's power was in it's virulence. If it got off the Wutai continent, the entire world would probably be done for in a week, two at most.

Best to stamp it out now and...

She froze, sighting a figure shambling next to the Calamity. "Yuffie..."

No... no no no no no! She reached out with her senses, trying to see what it had done to her. Had it turned Yuffie like her father had done her? No... wait... she could hardly feel anything of her friend in her! It had _**FED** _ on her!

Tifa's vision turned red. "YUFFIE!"

She had never moved so fast in her life, blitzing down at the Calamity and barreling into it, not even drawing her blade. They rolled on the ground, Tifa screaming in rage, raining blows as hard and fast as she could. She drove her fist right through it's shell like body, ripping out innards, before it managed to recover, lashing it with it's tentacles and swatting her away.

It hissed at her. " _What are you? You feel like kin, yet you are not._ "

"I am your _**END**_!" she roared at it, bum rushing forward and slamming into it, raining down blows again and again...

Until a tide of infected swarmed over her, ripping her off the Calamity and clawing at her. She booted them off one by one, striking fatally, at least until she had Yuffie on the ground, her fist inches from caving in her friend's head. She froze up for a moment, only for 'Yuffie' to screech at her and claw at her face. Tifa growled, lifted Yuffie up, and slammed her down into the ground, hard. She grabbed and twisted her legs and arms, breaking them while offering a silent apology. She lifted Yuffie up, spun around several times, and then threw Yuffie far away from the battlefield where she wouldn't be able to return from. She hoped and prayed they could do something for her afterwords, but she despairingly doubted it.

"Lockheart, move!" came Sephiroth's voice.

Tifa threw herself to a side just as tentacles speared right through where she had been, the Calamity bearing forward with a hiss.

"I will entertain the masses," called down Sephiroth, his blade gleaming in the sun, "Deal with the new pest as you see fit."

Tifa's blood was boiling, roiling with hate and rage. Orange and red energy cackles around her as she moves like a blur, her limit breaks ripping from her one after the other, battering and knocking the Calamity across the capital area of Wutai like a rag doll.

"HOW DARE YOU!" screamed Tifa as she finished her limit breaks, stabbing her fingers into the monster and _pulling_ , ripping out a chunk of its life energy, "She was MY FRIEND!"

The Calamity howled in pain, lashing out with it's tentacles and battered Tifa away. It staggered along the ground, floundering. Tifa grinned savagely at that, and drew her blade, charging forward to butcher it. She stabbed and slashed again and again until it was nothing more than a writhing pile of flesh and carapace.

She sheathed her sword and stared down at the mess, grinding her teeth. It's body was butchered, yet its presence hadn't diminished at all. What was-

She froze as the mass suddenly tensed and then died, decaying rapidly before her very eyes. But instead of the Calamity's presence dying, it _moved_. Right into the nearest infected Wutian. Immediately, the infected began to scream and claw at itself as it's body began to mutate and expand gruesomely. Tifa's stomach did a flip as fleshed ripped away, blood sprayed, body parts burst, and the Calamity erupted out of it in, reborn, **_in seconds_** , from one of it's infected slaves.

Nervous beads of sweat rolled down Tifa's forhead. She had known a Calamity couldn't be properly killed unless all of it's cells were killed, or as with her father, changed and controlled by Tifa into 'T-Cells'. But this was on a whole other level. This wasn't Jenova where a few cells could slowly infect and spread her influence, bidding her time. This was an active infestation. A single infected person, or even a single cell, could cause a rapid outbreak...

"Sephiroth!" she called out, "Destroy them completely!"

"I saw," he called back, his blade singing through the air in rapid strokes, fire streaming from his hands, green materia glowing brightly.

Tifa on the other hand made it her business to keep the Calamity busy, rushing at it, ducking and weaving through it's attacks. "No matter how many times you get up, I'm going to keep putting you down!"

* * *

Aerith knelt at the forefront of the Highwind, eyes closed, working with Minerva to shift the flow of the lifestream away from Wutai while they waited for Zack to grab Jen. It would have damaging effects on nature in the area, but, if they could prevent anymore of the Calamity's cells and it's soul from spilling into the lifestream, it would be worth it in the long run. Minerva, Aerith could feel, was beginning to divert her attention to chopping out infected bits of souls from those Tifa and Sephiroth had killed in Wutai, dissipating them rather than allow them into the lifestream to try to cleanse them.

It was a cruel fate, but necessary in order to safeguard the planet.

"Can you or Minerva tell us anything about what's going on in Wutai?" Cloud asked from behind.

Aerith did not open her eyes nor turn, she spoke with a duel voice, that of her own and the Goddess; "This Calamity is different. It's taint spreads with a virulence never before seen in any virus, or even the other Calamities. The Children of the Calamity are attempting containment, but two cannot hold back such a tide alone. None save for you and the other WEAPONs should leave this ship, lest you lose them to the Calamity's thrall."

"Fuck'n hell, that voice shit is weird," muttered Cid.

Aerith smiled softly before refocusing. She briefly turned her senses-the planet's senses to Wutai, feeling Tifa's rage, and had the unsettling sensation that it was more than just her hate of the Calamity...

Zack flew up a second later, holding an unconscious baby in his arms, an oddly amused look on his face. "So... does knocking out their own kid count as child abuse?"

Cloud snorted. "What makes you think they knocked her out?"

"There's a nasty pinch mark on the back of her neck," said Zack, setting down on the Highwind and motioning for Cid to take off.

Cloud muttered under his breath and cast a quick Cure on the child. Aerith briefly diverted her attention as she felt the child's presence stir and unconsciously stretch itself out, probing the area. It was rigid for a moment, eyes snapping open to take in everyone around her-

-and then the child's head turned in Wutai's direction; hate and rage and hunger filling the air as it hissed and clawed at the air, struggling in Zack's arms.

"Woah there kiddo, what's up with you?" said Zack.

"I assume that's why they knocked her out," said Angeal.

 _"The Child of Calamity appears to harbor the same desire to confront other Calamities that its Father mentioned having,"_ murmured Minerva in her mind.

Aerith briefly nodded in agreement with the Goddess. " _That's a good thing for us._ "

" _Perhaps, but the hunger concerns me_ ," said Minerva warily, " _It is always the same with the Calamity and their offspring. They hunger and hunger for more, never satisfied nor sated._ "

Aerith pursed her lips. " _Give Jen a chance, she could be a valuable ally._ "

" _Or a dangerous enemy_ ," countered Minerva.

Aerith huffed a little to herself. _"Not that you can do anything about her unless you want to cross her family, and the rest of us._ "

" _Your faith may be all of our undoing, the child unsettles me, it is not like her sires_ ," warned the Goddess, " _There is something strange about it, familiar and yet different._ "

" _We've got bigger fish to fry at the moment_ ," answered Aerith.

Minerva went silent, but Aerith knew the argument wasn't over. It was _never_ over. Minerva wanted all traces of the Calamity gone, their children included. But so long as they were peaceful, Aerith didn't much mind them. Tifa was-and still is, her friend. Sephiroth? He was always dangerous, even before he went 'insane', but so long as he had something to live for, to keep him stable, he wasn't a problem, she could see that. She only hoped that Minerva could see that to, because if the Goddess, the planet, or it's WEAPONS took unprovoked action against them, it could be a disaster. And besides, they needed their help against any future Calamities that were to come.

It was also important to note, Sephiroth, Tifa, and Jen did not need the Planet. Sephiroth had intended to ride it's corpse through the stars at one point to a new world. So it was safe to assume they could withstand the vacuum of space, and extremely long periods without food and water (maybe hibernation of some kind?). If the world died, those three could survive just fine and move on. Alienating them was an absolutely _terrible_ idea.

She tried to refocus, but Jen's hissing was rather distracting. "Can you take her inside?"

"Genesis! Baby duty!" called Zack singsong.

The redhead poked his head out of the bridge and scowled. "I am not a babysitter! Give her to the Captain, he'll be the one watching her when we take off."

"You fuckers are all children," grumbled Cid, walking over and taking Jen, glancing down at her, "Honestly kiddo, don't grow up to be like any of these good for nothing bastards."

Jen didn't pay him any attention, still hissing and clawing in Wutai's general direction, little wing beating rapidly to no avail. Thankfully, he went back inside and-

Aerith gave a startled yelp when a dark blur blew past the ship at such speeds it created a gust that sent them all staggering, their clothes and hair flapping wildly. "Well... there's Vincent, or well, Chaos."

Cloud moved to stand next to her at the front. "Good, they'll need all the help they can get until we arrive. We're still a good ten minutes out, more depending on where in Wutai the Calamity is."

"The capital area," murmured Aerith unhappily.

"Fifteen then," said Cloud with a scowl, "Far to long in a battle against that kind of monster."

He glanced at her. "What about our Materia?"

"Minerva already revitalized them," said Aerith.

"Alright then," said Cloud turning to address the others, "Check your gear and check your materia, ETA is fifteen minutes..."

* * *

Sephiroth growled under his breath. No matter how many he slew and burned, more and more kept coming. They were nothing to him, but it was irritating. He regretted letting Lockheart have at the Calamity, he would have enjoyed the challenge rather than cleaning up the trash. Still, best to be considerate since her friend was all but dead to her. Not that he had ever really paid attention to the thieving little Ninja, but it was still appropriate for him to allow her vengeance.

He dove into a horde of infected, spinning Masamune in a wide arc, the blade ignited with fire from his materia, leaving a molten burning slash through their bodies...

_ENOUGH!_

Sephiroth flew into the air at the sound of the Calamity's rage, glancing down towards it and Lockheart. His eyebrows furrowed as his cells began to tingle...

Damn, not this again.

He flinched and growled as he felt Reunion's pull from the Calamity. Immediately, the Hordes of infected, surged at it from everywhere, knocking Lockheart away and throwing themselves on their destroyer. He watched, resisting the urge for his stomach to turn, at the sight of their bodies and flesh melding into the Calamity. It began to ripple and grow as it absorbed one after the other. Body parts stuck out everywhere, faces embedded into it's skin gaped out with soulless dead black eyes. A tingle ran down Sephiroth's neck, and he narrowed his eyes, calculating and judging against the steady increase in power it was exhibiting.

It was roughly as strong as Lockheart's sire had been at the start...

He let out a soft chuckle. Which meant it still wasn't strong enough to...

The Calamity let out a roar, bubbles and boiled beginning to form and burst, releasing a putrid haze into the air. The infected hordes that came in contact with the haze stopped trying to be absorbed, and instead, began to mutate. They grew extra appendixes in gory rapidity, extra arms, legs, bat-like wings, and other changes. One in particular caught his eye, a former human that had bloated into a glowing green mass. He watched as it charged at Lockheart, who glared at it, met its charge, and slammed a fist into...

**_BOOM!_ **

It exploded in a spray of green and gray ichor, sending Lockheart flying, and cells of the Calamity all over the battlefield, which in turn began to evaporate and turn into more haze.

Sephiroth pursed his lips tightly. "So, this is what a full-fledged Calamity invasion looks like."

He had no more time to contemplate, as the infected began to fly after him, faster and stronger than before. That only made Sephiroth smile savagely, perhaps he might have to exert himself a little now. One could only hope...

...and then he froze as the green and gray haze from the Calamity reached him. He let out a gag, feeling dizzy and disoriented, and then pained. It felt like the air itself was attacking him! No, it wasn't the air, it was the Calamity's cells, it had turned them airborne! He was taken offguard as a horde of flying infected came at him, latching on and clawing and biting and stabbing, taking him down to the ground with a heavy 'thud'. He activated the highest level of his fire materia and incinerated the area around him, burning away the infected and the haze alike...

His head turned sharply at the sound of Lockheart's pained cry. The tables had turned, and the Calamity was battering her to the ground, slashing and stabbing and clawing with it's hordes of tentacles. Lockheart struggled to maneuver, being so close to the Calamity, the haze of it's cells were more concentrated, attacking and hindering her relentlessly.

And then a howl filled the air moments before a dark blur slammed into the Calamity, driving it away from Lockheart. Sephiroth blinked once, took in the sight of Vincent Valentine in the form of Chaos, and let his lips peel into a smug smile. "I was wondering if we were going to have to clean this up ourselves or not."

Sephiroth took a step, only for something to latch onto his leg. He glanced down to see a putrid vine emerging from the ground to wrap around his leg. He swung his blade and severed it, only to go wide eyed and take off into the air as more burst from the ground. He flew higher and took a moment to survey the battlefield. The first thing he noted that the haze was still spreading, further and further out, away from the immediate area. He narrowed his eyes in understanding. It's taint wasn't going to stop. It was going to keep on spreading, and considering it went into the ground...

He paused as a grim realization struck him. It was already to late, wasn't it? It's cells were everywhere already. Even if they killed all the infected humans and destroyed it's main host, its cells were still continually spreading. This was never about fighting, it was about containment. Sephiroth immediately flew to the edge of the battlefield and began casting Fire again and again and again; into the air, into the ground, trying to leave a ring of fire around the entire area as his energy reserve slowly began to drain...

_**BOOM BOOOM BOOM!** _

Fireballs rained from the sky, igniting large swaths of the battlefield and infected Hordes. Sephiroth glanced up to see Genesis flying ahead of the Highwind that was still a dot in the distance. "What took you so long?"

"We had to pick up your brat," said Genesis without breaking his rain of magic, "Where do you need me?"

"Keep the haze contained, and do not go into it," warned Sephiroth, "It is the Calamities Cells, if you touch it, they will attack your body."

"I'm on cleanup duty again," said Genesis dryly, "Great."

The Highwind drew closer, but came to a stop a ways from the battlefield, moving to hover just off the ground. Angeal carrying Cloud, and Zackery carrying the Ancient, flew out, charging for the battlefield. He opened his mouth to speak a warning, but they blew by without waiting. He sighed and shook his head, let them find out the hard way then...

* * *

Aerith let out a shrill scream, they all did, the moment they flew into this weird green and gray haze. She felt like sharp needles were being stabbed into every part of her body. They struggled for a moment, trying to force through the pain, before they were taken to the ground. Hordes of infected Wutains surged at them. Cloud, Angeal, and Zack struggled to fight, attacked both on the outside and the inside.

Aerith's legs buckled and she fell her knees, feeling nauseous. " _What IS this_?"

" _The taint of the Calamity_ ," growled Minerva with hate, " _Unleash your power and banish this plague!_ "

Aerith glowed her eyes and reached inside, for her heart, for Holy. White light engulfed her body, banishing the pain. She stood up, gave a cry of power, and thrust her arms into the sky and then to the sides. A nova of white light erupted from her body, disintegrating the haze where it met, and burning the infected around them. The aura of light extended a few yards, but no further, as it was already a drain to maintain it around them.

"Fight within the light!" cried out Aerith.

The trio of enhanced formed a triangle around her as they began to move towards the Calamity. She focused on supporting them, healing, enhancement materia like Haste and Barrier. She did nothing further, as to not burn through her energy reserved to fast. She let her gaze drift towards the monstrous Calamity as it battled with Chaos and Tifa. Chaos seemed immune, or was ignoring, the haze of the Calamity, clawing and ripping into it with abandon. Tifa was visibly struggling, blood was seeping out of her from seemingly everywhere, exhaustion clear across her face. Her friend took a few pot shots against the monster, but mostly focused on keeping the infected off of Chaos.

They needed to destroy the Calamity now! "Pick up the pace!"

The burst into a run, barrelling through the infected to join the main battle. The closer they got however, the smaller the aura of light became, it was becoming a struggle to cleanse the area around them and keep it cleansed. The moment they drew close enough, and the light touched the Calamity, it shrieked and staggered away, turning to hiss at them in rage.

"Cloud, Angeal, go join them, I'll keep Aerith safe," said Zack.

The two of them nodded and rushed out at the Calamity, wincing as they entered the haze, but pushing through.

"Tifa!" called out Aerith, "Take a breather."

The woman needed no further prompting, she staggered away, into the light, and all but collapsed to the ground. "Uhnn..."

Aerith knelt down, casting Cure and Regen on her friend, helping her to her feet. "You did good Tifa, take a minute to rest and recover, then lets destroy that thing."

Tifa shook her head. "I... I don't know how. If you destroy it's body, it just reforms itself out of an infected person almost instantly."

Aerith's heart skipped a beat. "It does what now?!"

Tifa nodded, taking deep breaths. "It... it spread and infected so fast. It was already swarming over the capital area. We couldn't stop it. We tried to fight it. Trashed it pretty hard, but it just absorbed some of it's infected and took things to the next level. Doing what you did against Father, sending it into the Sun, isn't going to work here. I... I don't know what to do, fighting it does _nothing_."

Aerith licked her lips nervously. Neither did she. " _Minerva? Any ideas?_ "

The Goddess was unusually silent, not even a sound in the back of her mind.

" _The Planet's Avatar cannot reach you anymore little girl,_ " came a horrific screeching voice in Aerith's head, a howling laughter ringing through her ears, " _So foolishly you came to confront me head on, knowing naught what you faced. Brute force has never stopped me before, and it shall not now. You have made a grave mistake in coming here..._ "

Aerith screamed and clutched her head as blood gushed out of her nose, collapsing to her knees as the Calamity viciously assaulted her mind...

* * *

Jen was howling with rage and hunger, so much hunger, far worse than anything she had experienced before. Nothing in all her eons as Jenova, as the Firstborn, could have prepared her for the endless desire to feed and devour her kin. It was all consuming, so difficult to think straight. She hated and yet craved for her kin with such yearning. She had to get down there, had to **_FEED_**!

But this fool wouldn't let her!

The man with a spear and a vulgar mouth, Cid if she had heard right, had her in a tight grip, pressed to his chest as he leaned against the railing of the ship he was on. "Fucking mess down there kiddo. Wish I could help, but I can't do a fuckin thing but drive people around anymore. Getting to god damn old for this shit. Aint no fancy SOLDIER boy or a WEAPON."

Jen beat against his chest with her tiny hands. Why couldn't he just shut up and take her down there? She could feel what was going on. The kin was spreading and growing stronger despite the efforts of the fools facing it. They were ignorant and inexperienced. They thought just because they had defeated her Mother's sire they were fit to face a true Calamity? They knew nothing of Jenova's original Planetfall and powers; such strength that would make this seem like child's-play. They did not know how to disrupt the web of cells and souls connecting her kin to it's slaves. The Ancients had learned, had been the only ones who had ever stumbled into the solution to seal a Calamity away and kill its connection to it's network. But this generation either didn't know how, or was so idiotically focused on fighting it head on they weren't considering it.

"Probably a good think we didn't go pick up Barret or Red, just get themselves killed, not a lick of self-preservation between those two numbskulls," said Cid, taking a moment to spit over the edge of the railing.

Jen saw her chance, and shot her wing up, slamming it into his eye. He gave a horse cry and lost his grip, staggering back as he did. Jen thrust herself forward as much as she could, beating her tiny wing, before she hit the railing, and went over the side of the ship. Her triumph turned into panic and fear as the ground rapidly rose to meet her. She flapped her wing sporadically, but it did little to...

_**CRUNCH** _

She hit the ground hard, screaming and wailing in pain as she felt her legs break, and many different bones shatter and snap. If the ship had been high in the air rather than close to the ground, she'd have perhaps foolishly killed herself. But the pain faded quickly, overcome with the rising hunger. She was so _close_ , so _very close_. She reached her little broken hands forward and clawed into the ground, flapping her wing as she did, slowly crawling forward towards the feast...

* * *

Tifa's heart stopped for a moment as a wave of pain overcame her, followed by ravenous hunger. But it wasn't from her, it was... "Jen...?"

She whirled towards the Highwind, her eyes narrowing as she focused in.

"Tifa? What is it?" asked Aerith shakily, looking pained.

She droned her out and focused her enhanced vision, sighting Cid scrambling down the ladder to the ground. She turned her attention downward...

Her eyes went wide to see her baby on the ground a great distance away, crawling towards the battle. "JEN!"

She broke into a run, barreling through the infected and the haze in a mad dash for her child. "Sephiroth!"

The man paused his rain of fire from above, following her gaze to their child, and suckering in a breath. For the first time in her life, she swore she saw unrestrained panic on his face. He dove, flying towards Jen as fast as he could.

She felt the eyes of the Calamity on them, curious and baffled as to what they was doing. Then, there was understanding, and dark glee. Infected stopped rushing towards them... and instead turned towards Jen!

"NO!" she screamed as they poured out of the haze towards her child.

One of them drew close and reached down for the baby, only to take Cid's spear through it's face as the man barreled into it, driving his shoulder in and shoving it away. Another infected closed the distance, Cid swung his spear, slashing at it, only for a third to slam an arm into him, knocking him away. It bent down and picked up the hissing child, turning to face them and holding a sharp claw next to the child's head,

 _"Another move, and your offspring dies,"_ echoed through Tifa's head.

Both Tifa and Sephiroth froze, and a moment later, the entire battle came to a halt. The others appeared to have heard, and since the infected had stopped attacking, they had grown still.

The Calamity's main body began to move leisurely and smugly moving across the battlefield towards Jen. Tifa shook with rage and hate and fear as it passed her. "I swear, if you lay a hand on her..."

" _I'll never understand mortals and their overwhelming desires for their young_ ," mused the Calamity, not bothering to turn to face her, " _You would be surprised how many worlds have accelerated their own destruction on the foolish urge to save their spawn. They sneak their young into their cities as my cells churn inside of them to try to find a 'cure', vectors of contagion that serve as the harbingers of their own demise. Or, they stupidly sacrifice their own lives, offering themselves in their place_."

Mocking laughter erupted from its maw. " _It never ceases to amaze me._ "

It drew close and peered down at the hissing child, who looked fanatically at the Calamity, reached for it with broken hands. A tentacle reached out and wrapped around Jen's middle, picking her up from the infected carrying her and holding it close to the Calamity. " _Now, what shall I do with this one, hmm? My kin but not kin?_ "

Before Tifa could respond, a wave of triumph erupted from Jen. She opened her tiny mouth with glee, her small teeth barely poking through her gums almost shining, and bit down on the tentacle wrapped around her. Her head ripping back and forth before she managed to bite a chunk out and swallow.

Tifa's eyes went wide with panic. "Jen! Spit it out! Spit it out!"

Jen ignored her and went in for another bite. The Calamity peered at the child, dark amusement rippling through the air. " _Vicious little thing isn't it? It takes after her kin, her hunger is apparent, but what does it think it can..."_

The Calamity trailed off for a moment, confusion rippling from it, then pain as it screamed...

* * *

Jen closed her eyes and savored the delicious morsel. She focused inwardly at her kin's foolish attempt to subvert her body. She allowed it to progress, studying the cells, it's powers, it's identity, before she struck. She reached into it's hive-like-mind and paralyzed it's entire network of cells and hosts with pinpoint accuracy practiced and used over the eons whenever she had encountered her kin as Jenova, ordering them to stop. It obviously had never faced off against another of it's kin if it couldn't fend her off, the little parasite probably fed rapidly then fled whatever planet it was on. Effective against it's inhabitents who couldn't figure out a quick way to stop it, utterly **_useless_ ** against her. So, with her pray helpless, she **_fed_**. She gorged on it's soul, sucking it in through each connected host and cell. She broke apart it's DNA piece by piece, identifying and incorporating what she thought would be useful into her own and tossing out everything else.

Her kin's strength was in it's survivability, its speed, its virulence. While Jen could not infect and spread, she could use such things within her own body. To spread any change she wanted to incorporate from future kin at lightning speed. She could vastly increase her regeneration rate, not to mention allow her body to recover from what would be assured fatal wounds such as being ripped into pieces or having her head severed. Already she could feel her broken bones knitting together, her damaged internal organs mending with renewed strength even without the Planet's lifeblood surging through her veins like her sires.

She could feel her body subtly changing, absorbing and adapting as was the strength of what she was. _**THIS** _ was the power of being a Child of Calamity, the ability to adapt like nothing before. Calamities could adapt and change, but they were always the same at their core, a network of cells controlled by a hive-like-mind. This new existence was concentrated and focused, its strength in its singularity. So unknowingly greater, so vastly superior, filled with limitless potential.

She gorged and gorged until she was sated, and then killed her kin with a single mental strike, disintegrating its connection between its mind and its cells. It's core body collapsed to the ground in an oozing mess. Infected humans following suit. The air began to bleed black as it's cells in the air burst and died, pooling to the ground. Jen landed with a mushy gross splash into the mess of dying cells, a delighted giggle of laughter escaping her lips. She felt so strong, so powerful, so _alive_. This was a better high than having gorged on the soul and goddess of a planet!

There was a rapid splashing sound before Mother-Tifa picked her up and checked her over in a panic, pausing at her eyes. "What...?"

Father-Son landed next to her. "Is she harmed?"

"Not that I can see, but her eyes... they're red and green AND gray now, it's like she took in some of the Calamity's...," said Mother-Tifa, worry etched across her face.

Jen didn't pay any particular attention to the concern and instead nestled into her mother's arms, well fed and content. Though, there was a disgusting amount of her kin's dead cells on her. She refocused on her Mother-Tifa and projected an image of their bathtub at her.

Mother-Tifa snorted in amusement. "Apparently she wants a bath."

Father-Son ran a hand through his hear, an odd nervous/relieved chuckle escaping his lips. Honestly, she didn't know why they were worried, she had this completely under control. If they had just taken her with them to begin with, this would have been child's-play...

* * *

Tifa narrowed her eyes as Cid's ragged form approached. "Cid, would you mind telling me why my child was on the ground?"

"Uh... she kind of whacked me in the eye with her wing and got loose while I was watching the fight," muttered Cid sheepishly.

' _I will not kill my friends, I will not kill my friends_ ', Tifa repeated in her head over and over again.

"What... did she just do?" came Aerith's baffled voice.

She turned to see all the others converging on them, pausing a little ways away, Chaos kept further distance, not yet reverting to Vincent, studying Jen intently. "Umm... she killed it?"

"How?" asked Aerith in disbelief.

"A good question," mused Sephiroth, glancing at his child in thought, "One I don't think she's going to be able to answer anytime soon..."

Both Tifa and Sephiroth froze as an image was thrust into their mind, of a spiderweb like structure, a tiny fist ripping away its center, and watching it all fall away as a result. "Or not..."

"What?" asked Aerith.

Tifa gave her a quick run down of what Jen had shown them.

"Umm... that explains things how?" asked Zack.

"More than you would think," mused Sephiroth, crossing his arms, head tilted in thought, "When I journeyed with Mother all those years ago, I observed what kind of being she was. Through her, I could tap into anything that bore her cells, like a network, and control them. Jen, as I understand it, killed the network by taking out its source and disconnecting it to its cells. Effectively, she killed its mind and soul with a single strike."

There was dead silence for a minute, before a cracking and splintering sound was heard. Tifa turned her head to see Chaos turning back into Vincent. She wrinkled her nose at the transformation, that had to hurt like hell. Vincent approached when he was done. "It makes sense except for one problem. The Calamity was far stronger than the Child. How could she possibly kill it like that? How could she even know to kill it like that?"

No one said anything, uncertainty in the air.

Tifa pressed Jen tightly to her, worried, yet immensely proud, and furious all at once.

Then a thought struck that washed away her current focus. "Oh god, I forgot, Yuffie!"

She rushed passed the group in the direction she had thrown Yuffie in at the start of the fight. She hoped and prayed it had been far enough to not get touched and mutated by the haze. The group followed her as she ran, and eventually, she came across Yuffie's body, or rather, what was left of it, and let out a despairing wail.

"Oh Yuffie," she whispered in horror.

The young woman's body was half melted in a mush of decaying green and gray cells. Her body twitched and spasmed, her eyes hazy and rolling around. A whine escaped her throat, pained and tormented. There was hardly and life left in her. Tifa chocked back a sob and stood there, shaking. There was a collection of gasps and grimaces as the others approached. Aerith knelt down next to Yuffie in the puddle of dead cells, sorrow etched into her face. She closed her eyes and clasped her hands together as if in prayer.

They all watched in silence, hoping Aerith could do something for their friend. Finally, Aerith held a hand, glowing with light, and placed it on Yuffie's chest. The woman whined in pain as her body was wrapped in light and lifted up, dead cells spilling out of her. Now out of the mass of cells, the damage was readily apparent. One arm gone, the other half melted, both legs gone, her lower body half dissolved, half her face missing... it was all Tifa could do but look away. How was she even still alive?

"Damn it," growled Cloud in fury, "Damn it! Damn these monsters!"

"Easy Cloudy," said Zack, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Rith', can you do anything for her?"

"The kinder thing would be to simply let what is left of her go into the Promised Land," murmured Aerith before steel entered her voice, "But... I think we've lost enough to the Calamities, and I don't give a damn if Minerva is unwilling to expend anymore of the Planet's energy. I'll keep her stabilized, Cid, bring the ship, we're going to the Northern Crater."

Tifa blinked a few times, confused. "What can we do for her there?"

"With the both Midgar closed up, and the Mideel Mako lake sealed, the Northern Crater is the only way to really get physically close to the lifestream anymore," said Aerith, "This is beyond us to heal, only the Planet can do anything for her..."

* * *

Cloud brooded silently as they descended into the crater hours later. He was still fuming, still felt the sense of loss and failure. He knew it was impossible to have done anything for Yuffie, he was on another continent when the Calamity came down. Yet... it still felt like he had failed a friend. It always came down to failing. Failure to save his mother and Nibelheim, failure to save Zack, failure to save Biggs, Jessie, and Wedge, failure to save Aerith, failure to save so many others over the years, and of course failure to save Tifa from Morbunova; save Marlene and Densel from a warped Tifa...

Always failing to save those who mattered to him.

He and Yuffie had never particularly been close; she was really annoying to be honest. But she was still a friend, still someone he had fought alongside for so long. To see her broken like this... was awful. It wasn't right to see her so lifeless and still when she was usually so full of energy; baring being motion sick of course. He sighed and rubbed his eyes before moving to take point as they entered the underground portion of the crater.

Wisely, no monsters approached. Any they came across took one look at the collected mass of former SOLDIERs and WEAPONs and fled. It was eerie, in a way, to walk down these winding tunnels that they had come down so long ago chasing after Sephiroth. Especially since the man walked with them. He didn't particularly know why he was, maybe to simply stay next to his child and Tifa. Eventually, they came to the final room prior to the core of the crater and gathered in a circle around it, so similar to the group that had come her so long ago.

"So...," said Cid, "Last time there were a bunch of floating rocks we hopped down. Kind of don't see that here this time."

Aerith sighed and aimed a hand towards the hole, a soft glow illuminating her. A minute later, a large flat rock floated up, and they got onto it. Aerith lowered them further and further down until they finally reached where they had originally fought Sephiroth. He couldn't help but to sneak a glance at the man. He showed no reaction to being in this place, not that Cloud really expected him to. The area hadn't changed much, red rocks everywhere, a few raised platforms of them that he recalled fighting that weird first form of Sephiroth on. A single hole in it's center where Holy had once been trapped. Now, it was filled with the green glow of Mako.

Aerith levitated Yuffie into the hole and set her down inside the Mako. Tendrils of green energy reached up and surrounded Yuffie, slowly wrapping her into a cocoon of Mako, forming a crystal around her like the one Sephiroth's body had been in way back when.

"Minerva is grudgingly willing to help," said Aerith slowly, "But not to expend the energy to make it happen quickly. The Lifestream will mend her slowly, it will be awhile, a few years at least, before she's anywhere close to being ready to wake up. Even then... I'm not sure what state she will be in. The Calamity devoured a large part of her soul and mind. We can't get that back. The most that can be done is infuse new lifestream into her to give her a full soul, and dig out as many memories of her life as we can from those departed who knew her in life. With how many Wutains fell to the Calamity however... I'm not sure we can give her anywhere near as complete a picture as we could Tifa."

Tifa shifted Jen to her other arm, looking uncomfortable. "Well... we'll do what we can to help fill in the gaps when she wakes up, as best we can. She's going to need our help either way."

Sephiroth crossed his arms. "There is also the status of her nation to consider."

Heads turned to stare at him.

The man raised an eyebrow, giving them a look that said 'did none of you honestly think about this?'. "A large chunk of their population lived in the capital area. The Calamity cut a swath to there, infecting everything along the way. Wutai had already lost an extreme amount of it's population in the Wutai War. How much of their people, their nation, even remains anymore after this?"

Cloud was having an awful reminder of what it felt like to be one of the only survivors of Nibelheim all the sudden. He wouldn't wish that on anyone, let alone a friend.

"Fuck," muttered Cid, "Better contact that damn moogle then and have him send out his people."

"Reeve," corrected Aerith.

"Whatever," said Cid, waving a hand before lighting a cigarette, "Though, knowing that bastard, he's already mobilizing."

Tifa reached over, grabbed his cig, and yanked it from his mouth, dropping it on the ground and smushed it under her boot. "There is a child present, watch your mouth and don't smoke that crap around her."

Cid's jaw dropped for a moment before he glared at her, huffing and turning to Aerith. "Alright, can we get the hell out of here?"

"Language Cid!"

"Ah go to hell Lockheart."

Cloud rolled his eyes, bemused, before he turned to Yuffie's Mako Crystal. He hesitatingly walked over and placed a hand on it.

"I'm sorry Yuffie," he muttered before he turned and slowly walked away with the others...


End file.
